


Wild Berries

by SamCyberCat



Series: Zombie Diet [5]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-02-22 14:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13168791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamCyberCat/pseuds/SamCyberCat
Summary: Kisumi and Haru are the only two people who can possibly help their infected friend. So they set out to find him and do everything they can to bring him safely home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I managed to start the next story in the Trail Mix series before the end of 2017, so I've achieved a personal goal there! I hope that those of you who've been wanting more zombie Haru (myself included) are looking forward to a story focused more solely on him and Kisumi. It's also nice to get a look at Kisumi's perspective, since he's one of the characters who hasn't had a story in this series from his POV before now. So here's the beginning of them setting out on their quest. Hope you enjoy!

If Kisumi let himself forget their situation for a while, he could almost pretend that they were hiking. There hadn't been any other people for miles, just him and Haru trekking through the forests across the mountains, avoiding the road just to be safe. Because even if the mountains were quiet, there was no point in taking risks. Haru had told him about the tunnel they'd passed through during their journey to Tokyo and how it had been infested with zombies from a hot spring spa on the other side. Being caught out by zombies in a tunnel would be less than ideal. Haru could protect Kisumi from one or two zombies, but after Tokyo... well, Haru hadn't been the same.

Kisumi watched him up ahead. Haru was the faster of the two and would often disappear off into the trees, coming back a short while later to assure Kisumi there was no danger nearby. The silence between the two of them was usually comfortable, but this time Kisumi could tell that Haru was trying not to dwell upon what had happened. The others had edged around the matter when they'd recounted the story, but Haru believed that what happened to Chiyo had been his fault...

Perhaps Kisumi should let the matter lie, but Kisumi had never been good at not talking when he felt the need to talk.

“Haru...?” he called.

“...Y-yeaah...?” Haru replied. He stopped walking and then doubled back to stand with Kisumi.

“It's getting dark, maybe we should think about setting camp for the night,” said Kisumi.

Their first night out in the wilderness as just the two of them. If it had been Haru alone, he wouldn't have needed to stop. He could have kept on going and possibly found Chiyo much faster. But Kisumi was the one who Haru believed Chiyo would be searching for, so Kisumi had to come. Besides, Kisumi wanted to help. Chiyo was an old friend and he'd done a lot for them in the short time that he'd been with their group. It was just a shame that Kisumi needed rest when they had no idea how long it'd take to find Chiyo. But Haru didn't judge him for that.

“...Let'sss s-setup... neeear the b-busheeesss...” Haru suggested, “...Th-thaaaat waaay.... we h-havee coverrr if... s-someeethingg comesss...”

With the decision made, the two of them got to work setting up the makeshift campsite, which consisted of only two sleeping bags. Not even a fire, since they were trying to save the supplies for when they desperately needed them. Who knew when or where they'd be able to restock if they ran out?

Haru didn't even use his own sleeping bag, however. He curled up next to Kisumi instead and having him there made Kisumi feel like the safest person on the mountains. Haru had come a long way from when he was too scared to touch any of them. Although he was still cautious in some regards. The two of them never kissed directly. Kisumi had a roll of cling film in his backpack though, just in case.

Once the two of them were settled, Kisumi brought up what was on his mind.

“About Chiyo...” he said. And he felt Haru tense up, but he continued, “Are you sure he'll be coming to find me?”

“...I'm n-not suuure of... a-anythiiinggg...” Haru admitted, “...N-not e-evennn... th-thaaat he'sss l-like me... But... b-byy your broth-ther'sss logiiic... h-he shouuld beee...”

“Hayato hasn't often been wrong about this,” said Kisumi. He knew that the others had issues with Hayato, but he was basically the only certified expert they had on zombies like Haru; “So looking at it that way, you both have synaesthesia. Which means that... your brains work differently to most people's and once you got infected, your brains adapted to, um... losing certain senses, just like they already had done to get around the parts that worked differently when you were born? I'm sorry, this all sounds very insensitive.”

Haru let out his bark of a laugh. That laughed used to take Kisumi by surprise, but now he'd gotten used to it. He was glad that he could make Haru laugh.

“...Youuu d-don't h-haveee... t-to wooorryyy... a-abouut offend...iiing... me of a-alll p-peopleee...” assured Haru, “...B-buuut I dooon't... undee-eerstaaand it... a-anymoreee th-th-thannn you do... All I k-knoww isss... h-hoow I workkk... H-hopefullyyy Ch-chiyooo will... beee the sa-aaaame...”

“He'll be lucky to have you to help him through it,” Kisumi said.

“...If n-not fooor... meee... h-heee wooouldn't b-be... inf-fecccted... at aaall...” replied Haru.

Kisumi squeezed his arm; “No Haru, without you, he'd be dead. You told me he got shot right before you bit him, right? If you hadn't infected him, he would've died anyway. Making him like you might've saved his life.”

“...Isss hiiis f-faaate now... r-reaaally b-better...?” asked Haru.

“From the point of view of someone who didn't lose you and hopefully won't lose him either, I'd say that it is,” Kisumi said, “I can't pretend that I fully understand what you're going through and I know that it can be hard for you, but... you're still here. We still get to be together and with the others as well. Of course I wish you'd never been infected in the first place, but I'm glad that it meant we didn't lose you when you were.”

“...Th-thankkk y-youuu... Kiiisuuumii...” said Haru, “...I'm g-gladd... th-thaat we g-get to b-beee... t-togeth-therrr... as w-well... A-anddd honeeestly...? ...I b-baareeely reeem-meeberrr... wh-what it'sss... likee t-to not... be liiike th-thisss now...”

Now that he'd brought it up, Kisumi realised that Haru had been infected a long time ago. Haru, Kisumi and the others were barely adults back when the infection broke out, but now Hayato himself was in his early twenties. Time had gone by. Soon enough Haru will have been a zombie for longer than he'd been a human and then he'd keep on going. Even after the rest of them couldn't keep on going any more... That would be a difficult bridge to cross, but Haru had admitted in the past that he'd rather not talk about it.

If Chiyo did turn out to be like Haru, at least it might mean that Haru wouldn't be alone when that time came.

“You'll have to show him the ropes, huh?” said Kisumi, “Do you remember what it was like for you right at the start?”

“...J-juuust a d-dull... senssee to f-followw M-maaakotoo... a-and p-proteect hiiim...” Haru said, “...E-every...th-thing elseee... c-caaame b-back s-slowlyyy...”

“And you think that Chiyo feels as strongly about me as you do about Makoto?” Kisumi asked.

“...Y-yoouu w-wouldd... k-knoowww the a-anssswer t-to... th-thaaat betterrr thaaan me...” Haru pointed out, “...B-buuut I thiinkkk... I h-haave a p-prettyy good ideeaaa...”

Haru wasn't wrong about that... Perhaps Kisumi was cruel, but back in the days when he would go to clubs with Chiyo and the two of them would casually hook up from time to time, he could tell that Chiyo had stronger feelings for him. But Kisumi hadn't been interested in a long term relationship back then and since Chiyo never admitted his feelings, Kisumi had been happy enough for them to carry on as they were, acting like he didn't know about them. Then the infection broke out and Kisumi assumed Chiyo had been lost like everyone else.

By the time they'd met up again, Kisumi was of course with Haru and honestly, both Chiyo and Haru had taken the situation very well considering.

“Thank you for not holding that against him,” Kisumi said, after a pause, “I'm glad that the two of you could have been friends.”

“...W-whhyyy wooould I... h-hold it... a-aaagainssst hiiim...?” asked Haru, “...If I l-loove y-yoouu... a-and he lovees y-youuu... th-theen I c-caaan underssstand h-him b-betterrr... thaaan s-someoneee w-who... doesssn't loove youu...”

“That's... wow. You truly are one of a kind, Haru. And I don't just mean because of the zombie thing,” Kisumi replied, snuggling in closer to Haru.

“...M-maaybe... I'm t-twooo of a... k-kinddd w-withhh... the z-zombiiie th-thing noww...” Haru replied.

“You don't think there are other reformed zombies out there besides you and him?” Kisumi checked.

“...In the w-whooole... worlddd...? ...Y-yess... thee-eeree alm-mosst d-defiiiniteeely... w-w-will bee othee-eers...” replied Haru, “...B-buuut the oness... f-fromm the f-facilityyy... I coouuldn't... h-helpp theeem... in the e-enddd... S-soo Chiyyooo... isss the o-onlyy oneee... whooo I c-caaan helppp...”

“Who _we_ can help,” Kisumi corrected, “You're not going to be alone in this, Haru.”

“...I'm g-glaaad...” said Haru, “...it'sss g-goood... thaaattt y-you'ree here... N-noot j-just be-eecauuuse he'll c-comee f-f-forrr you... but becccauusee... I liiikeee h-haaaviiing y-you hereee... Thaanksss f-forr t-taalking wiithhh... mee a-about thiiis... Y-you'reee th-the bessst a-att talkiiing...”

“Hey, it's my strongest skill, so I might as well use it,” Kisumi dismissed, “Besides, you've had to listen to me talk about my problems enough times, so I was more than due to return the favour.”

Haru shook his head; “...Y-your s-strongeest... s-skiiill... is c-compassionnn...”

“Haruuu! Stop that...!” Kisumi whined, as he buried his head into Haru's shoulder, “You're embarrassing me!”

“...Y-you'reee... eveenn... p-pinkerrr th-thannn usuaal... n-noow...” Haru said, his laugh coming back.

“Ugh! Well I'm glad you like that,” said Kisumi, as he pretended to pout across at Haru, “But seriously, I think that... maybe this'll be good for all of us. And even if we... can't help Chiyo in the end, at least we can both try and I want to be able to do that. So I'm glad that we came out here together.”

“...Y-yeaaah... me t-tooo...” agreed Haru.

With that, Kisumi closed his eyes and let the sounds of the forest wash over him. With Haru safely keeping watch, Kisumi knew that he'd sleep the soundest that he could tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that it's just the two of them, Kisumi needs to learn how to hunt. This doesn't come easily to him, so he opts for trying something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still 2017 where I am, so I've managed to squeeze another chapter in before the end of the year! Here's to a bright 2018!

Kisumi would have slept in for longer the next morning, but as the light began to appear over the trees, Haru prodded him awake. At first Kisumi resisted and rolled away, but Haru was more stubborn than he was and kept it up until Kisumi admitted defeat.

“...We n-need to... to m-moveee s-soon foor a... goood h-hunttt...” Haru insisted, his voice quieter than usual, probably in an attempt to not scare off any nearby wildlife.

“...You go ahead,” Kisumi grumbled, “I'll catch up later...”

From what Kisumi had seen, Haru was able to hunt pretty well at any time of day. His unexpected speed saw to that. The rabbits didn't know what hit them until it was too late. And yet Haru continued to poke at Kisumi's arm.

“...B-buuut... youu c-caa-an't eat... w-whaaat I... caatchhh...” Haru reminded.

Oh. That was true. Any meat that had been in Haru's mouth ran the risk of being infected, so Haru always caught food for himself, keeping far away from where the others hunted. But that was it - so far it had always been the others who hunted. Kisumi had only lived in the mountains very briefly to begin with before moving to the compound. During that time, mostly Makoto and Sousuke hunted. Even Noriko gave it more of a go than Kisumi did. After that, the compound saw to it that Kisumi, Hayato and Noriko had the correctly rationed amount of supplies. And since escaping, well, once again Kisumi was guilty of letting the others hunt. Gou had handled most of it while the rest of the group was travelling to Tokyo, because Gou was by far the expert out of them all.

It wasn't that Kisumi didn't accept that he had to hunt, but he just... didn't think he'd be able to do it. Certainly not as well as the others. Yet now he had no choice. So he rolled back over and looked at Haru somewhat grimly.

“I should've got some lessons before we left, huh?” he said, since he knew that Haru was already aware of the problem.

“...Y-yeeeah...” Haru replied.

“Could you... teach me?” Kisumi asked.

Perhaps that was an unfair question. Haru never particularly used guns, axes or anything of the like, because he'd never needed them. As a zombie, Haru hunted with his hands and teeth.

“...I caaan... t-trryy...?” said Haru. The doubt in his voice was evident and yet he'd give it a go all the same. That was Haru for you.

Kisumi knew that there was no point in hanging around. The others would often hunt at sunrise or sunset, because they knew that was the best time for it. So he pulled himself up and rummaged through his backpack, trying to be as quiet as he could. Gou had seen to it that Kisumi had brought everything he might need. She was good like that. There was a handgun and several rounds of ammo. Just looking at them made Kisumi feel bad. It was... it was wrong of him that he expected the others to do this on his behalf when he'd never made the effort before, but knowing that didn't stop him from feeling bad about the prospect of killing with his own hands.

“...Th-theere's a... f-fishiiing r-roddd a-attaaa-ached... to myy p-paack...” Haru offered, “...Y-yooou'd geeet m-moree usseee... ouut of... it th-thaaan me...”

“Yeah, I might take you up on that later,” Kisumi said, “But I want to at least try this first.”

After several failed attempts, he managed to load the gun. Then the two of them packed their sleeping bags away and set off. Haru knew where he was going, so Kisumi followed him until they came closer to the river, but didn't pass through the line of trees closest to it.

“...A-aniiimaals... w-will cooome thiiisss... waaay...” said Haru.

With that, he crouched down low and stayed very still. So Kisumi copied his example. Patience had never been Kisumi's strongest point, but he felt that he'd gotten better at it with age. Which was good, because the two of them sat in the same spot for more than twenty minutes before something finally wandered into the clearing. It was a deer. Kisumi raised the gun, but then he saw Haru shake his head out of the corner of his eye, so he lowered it again. Part of him was disappointed – such a large target would have been easier for him to practise on. But at the same time, killing a deer for one meal would be wasteful when they couldn't take it with them and if Kisumi messed up then a fleeing deer would see to it that no other animals would come this way for a long while.

Those thoughts in mind, Kisumi lowered the gun again and let the deer drink from the river undisturbed. It was a beautiful creature, so Kisumi didn't want to kill it now that he'd had time to reflect on that. As the deer drank, other animals started to appear as well – rabbits, boar and even a fox, although Kisumi would never be able to bring himself to kill a fox anyway. It didn't feel right. Several birds also flew around. The creatures here felt safe. Kisumi would have to take advantage of that...

Next to him, Haru nodded. Now was the time that Kisumi could take a shot. So he raised the handgun once more, waiting for his hand to stop shaking before he even tried to aim it. There was a boar closest to him, but Kisumi didn't fancy dealing with it if he messed up and angered it, so instead he took aim at one of the rabbits. Again, Haru nodded.

The gun clicked. But the rabbit heard it. Everything heard it. As the shot sailed ahead, it missed its mark and suddenly the river was a commotion of activity. None of the animals wasted time trying to find where the shot had come from. They just fled. In the next moment, you'd never have been able to tell they were there at all, save for their distant cries.

Kisumi had messed up. He was more disappointed than angry. As he lowered the gun, he shook his head.

“That's the end of that then...” he sighed.

After he said this, he felt Haru nudge the fishing rod into his hand. There was no point in turning down the offer, even if Kisumi was feeling disheartened.

“...Th-theeere a-aaree... alwaayss m-moree... oppo-oortuniitiesss w-withhh huntiiingg...” promised Haru, “...If the a-a-animaalss comeee... h-heere theen... it muust beee... a g-good ssspot...”

“Thanks, Haru. Let's give this a go,” Kisumi said, trying to sound optimistic.

Now that there was no reason to hide, Kisumi made his way down to the water's edge. His family used to go out on boat trips when he was younger, so Kisumi had at least seen his parents fish before, even if he'd never tried it himself. As he put some dried bait from his pack onto the line, Kisumi instantly felt like he was more comfortable with this. He wouldn't always be able to get away with fishing alone – as they moved away from the river, he would have to learn how to hunt on land – but for now, if he could do this then he'd feel better about it.

Haru sat as still as ever by his side as Kisumi cast the line. The stillness of Haru made Kisumi want to copy his motion. Haru was a good influence on him.

Time went on and the early rays of the morning soon became full-blown light. Perhaps they were wasting time now, but every time Kisumi almost suggested moving on, Haru shook his head before the words had even gotten out of his mouth. Finding Chiyo was important, but it would be several days before they had even the remotest chance of crossing paths with him. In the meantime, the sooner Kisumi learned how to do this, the better.

Even with Haru's influence though, Kisumi didn't manage to sit still the whole time. He was a fidgety person by nature and soon enough, his bouncy leg showed itself. Haru didn't seem to object though. He didn't even object when Kisumi began to idly hum a tune. Instead, Haru swayed his head in time with the melody. Perhaps fishing wasn't quite as quiet as other kinds of hunting needed to be.

Long into the morning, the line finally began to bob. Kisumi tensed up, stopping his song as he stared out onto the water. And then... something grabbed the bait. Kisumi gasped. In a single motion he'd jumped up to his feet and was reeling the line in as fast as he could. Whatever was on the end splashed and put up a fight. Without waiting for Kisumi to ask him, Haru took hold of Kisumi's waist and helped him pull back.

“We've got it! We've got it, we've got it, we've-”

The line broke the surface and flew up into the air, fish attached. After the work they'd put into pulling it in, Kisumi had been hoping for something like a trout, a carp or maybe even a salmon, if he was being too optimistic. But what dangled from the end of the line was... a sweetfish.

“Ah, well... it could have been worse?” Kisumi chuckled, “This will be more than enough for me, anyway.”

At least for one meal, anyway. But come tomorrow, Kisumi would need to try again. He reeled the line the rest of the way, knowing that he'd have to finish off killing the fish himself, since there was no one else to do it for him. Yet for the moment, he just wanted to feel good that he'd managed to catch anything at all.

“...S-sweet suuitss... y-yoouu...” teased Haru.

Kisumi was in better spirits now, so he nodded in agreement.

“I think I liked this more, even if it took longer,” he admitted, “I know that we won't always be able to fish, so I'll keep practising with the handgun as well, but I'd like to get better at this if I can.”

Honestly, Kisumi wasn't even that bothered about fish, but once you were out there fending for yourself, you soon started to care less about your food preferences. Besides, Haru always loved fish when he was younger, but he didn't find them as easy to catch as a zombie. Perhaps if Kisumi got better at this, he could fish for Haru as well. That was a comforting thought.

With that decision made, Kisumi gathered up his prize and the two of them went to find a good spot to start a small fire. As far as Kisumi was concerned, this was a good start to the day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two travellers leave the reasonable safety of their mountains and head out onto the first stretch of flat land. They still avoid the roads, but they might not be the only people who've thought to do that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First update of 2018! I hope you all had a great new year and that this year will be much better for everyone than the last.

The hike across the mountains fell into routine quickly enough. It was a hassle to stay away from the roads, but before long Kisumi found that he wasn't even thinking about that any more. Besides, he didn't object to not going through the tunnels if it meant that they could stay out in the open air. The forest was beautiful. It felt almost untouched by the infection, even if Kisumi knew that wasn't true. Once they'd gotten past the mountains they'd come across more populated areas and Gou warned them that most people would be hostile. Workers and guards from the compound were a given in that regard, but even most of the raiders wouldn't treat them kindly. The last thing Kisumi wanted was for Haru to come to any harm because Kisumi got careless...

With that in mind, Kisumi kept practising with the handgun. Although he didn't seem to get any better with it as the days went on. Fishing came to him quicker, but it just took too long. Whenever Kisumi caught something for himself, Haru would advise them to cook it and then press on before Kisumi had a chance to catch anything else for Haru. Hopefully once all of this was over he'd be able to fish for Haru.

Yet despite their slow pace, Kisumi understood the urgency. Each day that went by was potentially another day that Chiyo could be wandering through an encampment of people and running the risk of them putting him down. Assuming that hadn't already happened and also assuming that Chiyo had made it out of Tokyo at all. Kisumi didn't want to think like that. He had to believe that Chiyo had survived this long.

Perhaps once they did meet people, if they seemed friendly enough, then Haru could hide while Kisumi asked them if they'd seen any signs of a zombie like Chiyo. Even before getting infected, Chiyo definitely stood out. Few people were taller than Kisumi, but Chiyo made it into that elusive category. Plus, he was built like a tank. Anyone who valued their safety would hopefully keep away from a zombie like that.

Then again, maybe it was foolish to think about talking to people about Chiyo while Kisumi was giving the impression of travelling alone. Kisumi wasn't stupid, he knew how vulnerable he appeared.

He second-guessed himself both inside and outside his head over the matter as they travelled. That was the good thing about Haru, he was content both to listen to Kisumi chattering and to let them both be in silence for as long as they wanted. It always felt comfortable around Haru and any advice that Haru gave Kisumi was always good.

On this matter, Haru largely felt that they should err on the side of caution. But if too long went by with no results, then he wasn't opposed to talking to other travellers, as long as they could determine thosetravellers were safe. Kisumi wasn't sure how they could do that, but he hoped that a way would become obvious if they ended up in that situation.

For now though, after more than a week of travelling through the forest, their range of mountains began to thin away. This would be far from the last mountainous range they'd pass through on the way to Tokyo, but reaching some flat land made it feel like they were making progress.

“I bet it only took you a few days to get here in the van,” said Kisumi.

Even stranger to think was that before the outbreak, you could travel from Iwatobi to Tokyo in less than a day. Kisumi had made that journey many times on the train without even thinking about it when he was younger.

“...It d-diiidn't... taa-ake as l-longgg...” agreed Haru, “...B-but we e-endeeed up... baack-t-trackiiing a looot... Th-thisss tiiime I h-haave a c-clearer... ideaaa of the w-waaay...”

“Which means we can avoid settlements easier,” Kisumi said, “Do you think that Chiyo will be taking, um, a direct route?”

“..If I'm riiight... hee w-will reeem-mebeerrr... wh-whereee yoou... weerrree a-aand will c-comee th-theeree taakiiing the m-mossst... direeect p-path h-he caaan...” said Haru, “...Seeiiing p-peopleee w-won't... c-concern hiimm...”

“That's not good...” Kisumi sighed, though he'd be lying if the said that he didn't suspect as such.

“...I d-don't... liiike w-walkingg... a-aloonngg the flaa-at landsss...” said Haru, probably to change the subject, “...Less p-plaacesss to h-hiide...”

“All we can do is be careful,” replied Kisumi.

That was all they could ever do. It was a truth they'd long since come to accept. But Haru was right that the areas they were walking through at the moment left them a lot more exposed than the mountain did. For the moment, they kept with the river as best they could, but they wouldn't be able to follow it forever. Just so long as they kept away from the roads, Kisumi hoped that they'd be fine.

...It turned out that they weren't the only people who had that mentality though.

Compound guards. They were off-roading, probably for the same reason that Kisumi and Haru were – to avoid raiders. The difference was that they had a van and were considerably better armed. Haru pulled Kisumi into a hedge before they were sighted. It was a prickly landing, but preferable to being shot. Kisumi held his breath, but the two guards were still some distance away, stretching their legs by the river.

“The raiders have been getting twitchy lately, they know something's up,” one of them said.

“Are you surprised? The council's having these shipments rolled out so fast that there's no way it won't be noticed. They're hardly being subtle,” her companion replied, “It's only a matter of time before someone's careless and they get a hold of something they shouldn't.”

“Why would they do that? Clearing out the zombies would benefit them as much as us,” said the first guard.

“Would it though? These are the people who've made their lives off this world. Imagine if the cure works – eventually people would be brought back from the compound into the country. Say you're a raider who's been living off a farm for more than ten years and then one day the farmer who owned that land came back. Would you want to give it up?” the second guard replied.

“Well, I... Ugh! I'm not a raider, so how should I know how they think? I'm not even sure if this cure is going to work out, since these machines only have such a small radius at the moment. Seems like a haphazard solution, if you ask me,” she huffed.

“They'll improve it. Maybe the researcher who developed the program went haywire, but there'll be others. All we can do is keep our heads own and follow orders,” her friend advised.

“Let's hope that the raiders behave themselves as well then...” the first guard trailed off.

Not long after that, the two of them returned to their van. Even after they drove away, Kisumi and Haru waited a good ten minutes before climbing out of the bush. Kisumi got out first and offered a hand to Haru, who took it gratefully.

“...Baack in h-highh... school th-thiiis w-woouldn't... h-have beeen th-the w-waay I'd... expee-ect beingg in a... heedge w-withh Kisuumi Sh-shigiiino... to gooo...” Haru teased, as Kisumi pulled him up.

Kisumi snorted; “Yeah, it would've been a bit different back then. Not that I mind the way it is now, I just wish we weren't in danger whether we're in the hedges or out of them. Those guards had something in their van, didn't they? The cure that Hayato gave the compound...”

“...Sooounds liike... th-theey're mass pro...duucing itt...” said Haru.

“They aren't wasting any time...” Kisumi replied, “But in that case, neither will we. Hopefully it won't change too much for now, since we're avoiding settlements anyway.”

Haru nodded in agreement, but they both knew that this was a short-term solution. If the compound were already moving to take out the zombies, then it could only be a matter of time before most parts of Japan had one of those machines emitting the frequency that would drive Haru (and potentially Chiyo) to stop moving. When that day came, they'd have to do something...

Not for the first time, Kisumi wondered where Hayato was and what he was doing with that big brain of his. Hayato cared a good deal about Haru, so there'd be no way that he'd be sitting idle while Haru was at risk. Kisumi just knew in his heart that Hayato would be working on a counter to his own cure. Hopefully he was looking after himself at the same time though, since Hayato had a reputation for being reckless when it came to zombies...

With that on his mind, the two of them resumed their walk. They moved away from the river now as well as staying away from the road, because it seemed as if being near either was too risky. The compound guards were trying to sneak around to avoid too much notice from the raiders, while Kisumi and Haru were just trying to avoid too much notice from anyone.

By the time night fell, the two of them found a place to stop for a rest. Kisumi wanted to press on, but Haru flat-out refused while it was dark. He knew best, so Kisumi admitted defeat. It was colder out here than it had been in the forest, but Kisumi still didn't light a fire. It'd draw too much attention to them if someone saw. So instead, Kisumi pulled his sleeping bag close around him and tried to think of warm things to trick himself into believing he was warm. With Haru by his side, that wasn't hard.

They looked up at the stars for a while. Kisumi drew lines between them with his eyes and once Haru realised what he was doing, Haru drew lines between them with his finger. It seemed that Haru didn't get cold at all.

“...I d-doon't... knooww a-all the staarsss...” Haru admitted.

“That's okay, I don't either,” Kisumi replied, “It won't hurt if we just make them up, I think. Who's around to tell us off if we're wrong?”

“...Fooor nowww...? ...No o-oneee...” said Haru, as he traced the shape of a group of stars Kisumi personally referred to as 'the frying pan'. That probably wasn't what they were actually called.

“But in time, maybe people who take stars seriously will come back to Japan, along with all the other people,” Kisumi said.

“...We caan't... b-blaame th-themm for... w-waantiiing to... c-comee homeee...” replied Haru, “...M-mossst of theeem... w-won't eveen... knoow abouttt r-raideers or... oth-theers l-liiiving in Jaapan...”

Kisumi turned his head away from the sky to look thoughtfully at Haru.

“You've never blamed them, have you? I understand why you don't, because that wouldn't be fair. But what's happening to you isn't fair either. It's okay to think that, even if you don't blame anyone for it,” said Kisumi.

Haru didn't look away from the sky.

“...I d-dooo thiink... it'ss unfaa-aair...” he said, “...Buut th-thiinking thaaat won't... chaange a-anyth-thiing...”

“You're so mature, Haru,” Kisumi replied. He rested his head against Haru's shoulder and looked back up at the sky; “I guess even if we can't change what's happening, we're doing the only thing we can right now by looking for Chiyo. I want to believe that's the one difference we can make...”

“...It w-will bee...” promised Haru, without hesitation.

When he spoke so confidently, Kisumi believed him completely. He fell asleep that night with his mind full of the conviction that they'd definitely find Chiyo and bring him home to their cottage.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they continue their journey, the compound's intentions become ever more obvious. And with the compound growing careless, a knock-on effect is that Haru is at a greater risk than before.

The vans became more frequent as the days went on. They appeared both on and off the roads, heading in all directions. What had initially started out as a somewhat simple task of avoiding the roads and rivers soon turned into an unfortunately winding path of trying to sneak anywhere that they wouldn't be noticed by the vans. They'd have a harder time finding Chiyo this way, but if they got caught, then they wouldn't find him regardless. This was their only choice.

A few times they came closer to settlements in an effort to avoid the vans. But Kisumi reasoned to himself that as long as those settlements contained raiders it was preferable to those from the compound. Perhaps the raiders were mostly untrustworthy opportunists, but Kisumi and Haru would have a better chance of stumbling upon allies there than they would do with the compound.

At least that was what Kisumi thought...

It happened suddenly one afternoon. The two of them veered up a hill to avoid an overturned compound van. There were uniformed bodies next to the van and they looked fresh enough to assume that the damage had been done within that same day. It wasn't a zombie attack either, this was people killing people.

With the prospect of danger close by, Kisumi wanted to move on as swiftly as possible. But when he looked back over his shoulder, he realised that Haru wasn't moving.

“Haru...?”

Was it the bodies attracting his attention? Even as a zombie, Haru had mostly been good about fighting off the urges. He'd never eaten a person that Kisumi knew of, at least not since he'd regained the ability to talk. There was that Lando guy from before Haru had properly regained his sense of self, but... they didn't talk about Lando.

Yet it seemed that zombie urges weren't the problem. Haru didn't make a move for the van. Instead he slumped down onto his knees.

“Haru!”

Kisumi hurried back to him and pulled Haru up. As he did so, Haru clutched at his head, crying out in pain. It was a distressing sound that sent shivers through Kisumi. A large bird took flight from one of the bushes nearby and if the wildlife had heard Haru, then any people around might've heard as well.

And there were almost definitely people somewhere close by.

“Come on, Haru... Let's get you moving...” Kisumi whimpered.

He didn't want to be insensitive, but he just didn't have the time to safely figure out what was wrong with Haru right now. They had to get as far away as possible and hope that Haru lasted until then. Between the gasps, Haru nodded his head as best he could. He was agreeing with Kisumi's choice.

So Kisumi hoisted Haru's arm over his shoulder and began to help him move. He wasn't strong enough to lift Haru on his own, so they had to make do like this. Haru tried his best to move his feet along the ground, but it seemed like Haru's whole body was shutting down.

With that realisation, suddenly Kisumi knew what this was.

“The cure...” he whispered.

Another limp nod from Haru. The over-turned van must have contained one of the machines that the compound was rolling out and someone had gotten hold of it. Probably raiders. Somewhere nearby, someone had turned the machine on and unknowingly caused Haru to fall into this state.

Where did they get the power from? Were there raiders who had access to electricity? Did these machines run on batteries or another power source. That didn't seem likely. If only Kisumi understood anything about this...

Right now though, he didn't have time to think about how this worked. All he could focus on was getting Haru out of danger. After his initial cry, Haru tried to keep his voice down as much as possible, although the whimpers were frequent.

Haru was in so much pain... A pain that Kisumi couldn't understand or stop...

They made their way over a hill and tumbled a little way down. Kisumi kept tightly hold of Haru as they fell. After skidding across the dirt, he regained his balance and pressed on. They had to be moving away from the risk and not towards it... They had to be...

As he thought this, Haru raised his limp arm up to his mouth as best he could manage and then bit down on it to drown out the noise. The sight broke Kisumi's heart, but still he kept on walking.

There were noises now. People behind them on the other side of the hill.

“I swear I heard something! It wasn't a bear!”

“It musta been. The bodies will've attracted it or something worse.”

Kisumi held his breath, not wanting to make any noise that would attract their attention.

“Think it's zombies?”

Haru's foot scraped over an unseen rock.

“Nah, we'd know about it already if it was. They'd still be here pickin' off the corpses.”

They hadn't heard the noise from Haru's foot. Their own conversation was too loud. Still, it wouldn't do to be careless, so Kisumi watched the ground as they walked.

“I heard it after Dad rigged that compound thing up to the generator. Think it's upsettin' the animals?”

Their voices grew louder, as if they were coming for the hill to look for any animals that might still be hanging around. Please don't climb up the hill, please don't...

“Could be... If that's the case we'd better hurry back there and tell 'im to turn it off. No point messin' with compound stuff.”

That was as much as Kisumi heard before the voices disappeared. He hoped that they'd moved off in the other direction, but Kisumi himself couldn't afford to stop. He pressed on, walking further and further from the hill.

Within a few minutes, Haru stopped biting his own arm. It slumped down to his side. Haru kept on whimpering for a bit longer, but soon enough that died down as well. Kisumi felt Haru's footsteps become stronger against the ground again.

Haru was coming back to him. But Kisumi still didn't let Haru go.

“That was it...” Kisumi whispered.

A nod. There was no need to confirm that really, as they both knew what it was, but saying so out loud made it feel real.

“I can't imagine how that must feel,” Kisumi went on.

“...Liii...kee... craa...aaapp...” Haru wheezed. Even now, he hadn't lost his sense of humour.

“At least you held out better than a regular zombie would. Sousuke told me that the ones in Iwatobi basically shut down,” said Kisumi. It was to try and make Haru feel better, but Kisumi had to admit that Haru himself was shutting down with the noise. If it had gone on much longer, then Haru wouldn't have been able to walk.

“...It... it'll b-bee... everyy...w-wheereee... s-soooon... enoo...oough...” Haru said. He sounded as hopeless as Kisumi felt.

“From the amount of vans we've seen, I don't think you're wrong there,” agreed Kisumi, “They're not even guarding those machines that closely if some raiders could take one like that. They must have so many of them that they just don't care...”

“...Typiicaal... H-haayaatoo... t-to m-maaake... someee...th-thiing... thaaat w-woorksss... too w-weell...” said Haru.

“Too easy to mass-produce,” sighed Kisumi, “But our mountain should be safe, right? They're going to focus on the cities and towns, but no one knows there's anyone living in the mountains, so surely they won't put one there...”

And what if they did? Kisumi didn't have the answer to that question any more than Haru did. They needed a safe haven. But if it couldn't be the cottage, then where could it be? When Haru didn't respond, Kisumi knew that he must have been feeling the same way.

“...We have to get to Chiyo before he shuts down as well,” Kisumi said, to try and strengthen his own resolve, “No matter how tough he might be as a zombie, if he wanders through somewhere with one of those machines, then they'll be able to take him out when he falls...”

Kisumi didn't want to think about that. Chiyo being killed somewhere in Japan by strangers, when he was trying to search for Kisumi. When Kisumi and Haru were the only two people in Japan who could've possibly helped him... It was too much.

“...We haaave... s-siiix m-monthsss... b-beforreee... S-soousuukee... saaid he'ddd... comee l-lookiiing f-foor... usss...” reminded Haru, “...If we h-haave to... th-then... I w-woouldd s-speendd... all th-thaaat tiiime... t-tryyiiingg... to finddd Chiiyoo... with-thouut... givinnggg up...”

“Haru...” Kisumi whispered, “Thank you...”

It didn't mean that they had any more idea of knowing if they were already too late or not, but hearing the strength of Haru's resolve renewed the fire inside Kisumi as well. Haru was willing to put himself through all of this, even knowing that they'd probably encounter the cure more often as time went on. Knowing that, Kisumi couldn't give up on Haru or Chiyo. Even if he had to carry Haru half way across Japan. They would find him.

Then once they found him, they had to hope that they could help...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a couple of weeks without results, Kisumi decides that it's time to seek help from others. He leaves Haru behind as he heads to a trading post, hoping to find any information about Chiyo.

Kisumi held tightly onto the straps of his backpack as he walked through the crowd. It probably looked like he was worried about getting mugged. Which was fair enough, since he was worried about getting mugged. Gou had given him plenty of warnings about raiders before Kisumi and Haru had set out from the cottage. As much as it wasn't in Kisumi's nature to be untrusting towards strangers, if it was the difference between life and death, he'd be as cautious as he needed to be.

He also felt so very alone, despite being surrounded by more people than he had been since leaving the compound. Up until now he'd had Haru's company for the journey and Haru was the best company Kisumi could ask for. But there was no way Haru could come into a trade post with Kisumi without causing a stir, so Haru had to remain hidden some distance away.

They'd come across the trade post purely by accident. Something else Gou told them was that raiders generally kept places where they met up away from obvious locations that guards would find. That was why Gou's own trade post had been out in a forest. Although this place was much busier than Gou's had been.

Kisumi wondered if he'd even find what he was looking for here. Which was information, not supplies. Not that he'd turn down supplies, but he didn't have anything of value that he'd be willing to trade. Perhaps they'd give him information for free, even if they wouldn't give him supplies...?

Ideally, Kisumi wouldn't have had to try this at all, but they'd been travelling for over two weeks now without any sign of Chiyo. The closer they got to Tokyo, the more desperate they became to learn anything new. Especially since, if Chiyo was moving away from Tokyo, there was a higher chance of them coming across him.

As he wandered, Kisumi came across a group of women talking at one of the tables and he couldn't help himself from being drawn into what they were saying. So he slowed down his walk as he passed by.

“Never seen anything like it before. One minute we were surrounded by zombies and then the next they just all... lay down, like they'd stopped,” said a tall women who was holding a bundle of timber under one arm, “Didn't stick around long enough to find out why. I know my one chance at a miracle when I see it.”

The woman on the other side of the table, who had to be a trader, replied, “Any other day I'd tell you to keep walking, but I've been hearing so many stories like that lately. People seem to think it's something the compound's up to.”

“That's because it is.” ...Kisumi heard those words come out of his own mouth. The group turned to look at him now and he knew he couldn't back out, so he continued, “You must've seen the compound vans that have been going around lately and how there's a lot more of them than before? It's because they've made these machines that make some kind of noise that only zombies can hear, I think. It shut the zombies down.”

“Huh. That does sound a bit more crazy, but I have noticed the vans,” the trader said, “How do you know so much about it though, stranger?”

Oh no. The last thing Kisumi wanted to do was drop himself in it. He hated to lie, but it wouldn't bode well to tell too much about his situation to people he didn't know.

“While I was travelling I came across a ransacked van, about six days walk away from here,” he said, at least being honest about that part, “Someone had taken the machine from them and hooked it up to a generator. The effect on the zombies was exactly like you said. So I believe that the compound are trying to get these machines set up across Japan.”

“So the cure is real after all...” mused a short woman.

“Whether that's good for us remains to be seen,” said her taller friend, “I doubt we'd look good on the compound if they start bringing people back into the country. They'd probably want to flush us out.”

“That's awful...” gasped Kisumi. Couldn't the raiders and the civilians from the compound all exist together? It wasn't as if they were enemies, after all.

“That's the compound for you,” dismissed the trader, “But what you've told us is actually pretty good to know, stranger. We can start preparing now. One good turn deserves another, so is there anything I could offer you?”

With that, she motioned to her wares on the table. The fresh vegetables looked tempting. It had been too long since Kisumi had eaten anything that wasn't either the meagre results of his poor hunting skills or else the canned goods Gou had given him that he was trying to ration. But Kisumi knew what he wanted more than food.

“Actually, it might be odd, but I have a question that I've been looking for the answer to,” he said, “If you could shed any light on it, I'd appreciate that. Especially since I'm not familiar with the area.”

“Not much goes on around here that we don't see. So shoot,” said the trader.

“I've been looking for a zombie,” Kisumi said. The women looked at him like he'd gone mad, so he went on, “This isn't an ordinary zombie though, it'd be a very dangerous one. A black male, over seven foot tall and very muscular. Might have signs of a bullet wound in his back and a zombie bite on his arm.”

“If I saw a zombie like that, I'd run for the hills,” the tall woman said, before turning to her short friend, “What about you? I know you venture into the towns more than me. I've stayed away ever since my lucky escape the other day.”

The short woman tapped her chin thoughtfully; “You know... I did hear something like that, but I thought it was just a campfire horror story. My aunt said she knows someone who saw a huge zombie wandering through one of the towns a few weeks ago. They tried to put a few bullets through it, but they couldn't take it down.”

That must have been Chiyo! Kisumi's heart leapt.

“I think that could be him,” he said, eager to hear more.

“Yeah, but that's not even the worse part,” the short woman went on, “So the other zombies started to collapse for no reason, just like what happened with Junko here, and they thought they'd have it after that. But this big zombie just kept on going! It crawled all the way through the town, like it was crazed and after something. It scared me shitless to think of an unstoppable zombie just beelining through the wilderness like that, so I'd been hoping it was just a load of bull. Are you telling me that this thing is real...?”

Kisumi couldn't lie about that. Not if it meant someone might be in danger.

“He's real all right. But hopefully you won't have to worry,” he said, “That zombie has... ah, somewhere in mind where he's going and it's pretty far from here.”

“Never heard of a zombie with a purpose before,” replied the woman apparently known as Junko, “But then I never heard of zombies shutting down before either, so I'll believe anything.”

“You seem to know a lot about this though. You aren't with the compound, are you?” checked the trader, eyeing Kisumi up.

He held out his arms; “Do you seriously think they'd hire someone like me?”

“Nah, not in a million years,” laughed the short woman, “Honestly, I thought about looting you the moment you walked in here, but I would've felt too bad about it afterwards. No point in taking from the helpless unless you have no choice.”

“Lucky for me then,” said Kisumi, as he pulled his arms back in, “Well, I'd better be heading off. Thanks for letting me know about what you saw.”

“Take it you won't tell us why you're looking for a monster zombie like that?” the short woman asked.

“Unfortunately, no. But rest easy that I'm not bringing him here,” said Kisumi.

“That's the part that matters to me,” replied the trader, “Well, best of luck, stranger. Although perhaps it'd be luckier if you didn't find what you were looking for.”

“If only I could agree,” Kisumi concluded.

He gave the three of them a cheerful smile and then made his way back towards the exit, which was marked by a flag in a single tree stump. Kisumi got the impression that busy trade posts like this one were designed to be easy to evacuate at a moment's notice. That was probably the only way, with the risk of both zombies and the compound ever looming.

As he left, he tried to seem as casual as possible without also looking like a target, although hopefully anyone else would take as much pity on how helpless he seemed as that woman had done. Either way, Kisumi didn't relax properly until he was a good distance away from the post and any of the people coming to and from it.

Night had fallen now, so Kisumi didn't fancy wandering too far through the trees. Hopefully Haru would be around, since he was generally good at keeping track of Kisumi. But then... if Haru had been here, Kisumi was sure that he would've made his presence known before now.

“Haru...?” Kisumi called, “It's just me. I don't think I've been followed...”

Although Haru would probably have a better idea about that than Kisumi would. When Kisumi got no response to his call, he started to worry that he had been followed and looked around, but it was hard to see more than a few feet away in the dark. Kisumi wandered further into the woods, despite his better judgement.

“Haru? ...Haru, where are you?” Kisumi called.

At first he tried to keep his voice down, but after a few minutes of nothing, his calls grew louder and louder. There didn't seem to be anyone around to hear him. Not even Haru...

“Haru! Haru! Are you-”

A cry. No... more like a roar.

It sounded almost like Haru's own zombie screams from when he'd lost himself to the urges, except also... not like Haru at all. It was deeper and angrier. In Kisumi's stomach, he knew what it was. His blood froze.

Then he heard Haru's cry in response. It was weaker. As if... Haru wasn't doing well.

Haru had found Chiyo...!

Oh god.

Terror running through his veins, Kisumi raced in the direction that he'd heard the noises from. It was time to face Chiyo.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru has found Chiyo while Kisumi was away, but that isn't working out very well for either of them.

Kisumi ran through the woods, following the sound of the cries. They were fighting, he could tell, and it didn't sound as if that fight was going at all in Haru's favour. The closer Kisumi got, the more he could hear. It wasn't just the cries, but also the sound of the forest being knocked around. Or rather... someone being knocked around the forest.

Something snapped and fell. It sounded like a tree. Not far off...

As Kisumi stumbled out onto a ledge, he saw a sight that he wished wasn't real down the hill below him. Haru was trying to pull himself up after being thrown against a young tree, which was now lying uprooted behind him. He let out a small whimper.

And there he was... Chiyo.

The zombie that had once been Chiyo. But no, Kisumi had to believe that the true Chiyo was still in there. That belief was the whole reason they'd set out. Even if in this moment it didn't seem like there could be anything in Chiyo's head other than a driven urge to take out Haru. Kisumi watched as Chiyo slowly walked towards Haru. He couldn't see much of him from behind, but he didn't need to see in order to tell that Haru was completely out-classed in this fight.

What was Kisumi doing just standing there? He had to help!

“Hey! H-haruuu! I'm here!” Kisumi yelled, cupping his hands together.

That got both zombies' attention. As Chiyo swung around to face Kisumi, his eyes almost seemed to glow through the darkness. He had two of them, which looked almost strange after getting used to Haru's one eye, but otherwise his expression or lack thereof was so much like Haru's that it was painful.

While Chiyo was distracted, it gave Haru a chance to pull himself up. But as Haru tried to dart away, he caught Chiyo's attention again. Chiyo ignored Kisumi for the moment and gave chase to Haru. But fortunately it seemed that Haru was much faster than Chiyo was, probably due to being smaller and more nimble. Haru darted away, weaving through the trees. Chiyo smashed through them as he made to follow.

It seemed like Haru was leading him away, but that wasn't the point of this. Haru couldn't help Chiyo by keeping him away from Kisumi...

“Shit...” Kisumi swore.

He made his way down the hill as best he could in the dark without tripping up and then followed them both, trying to figure out exactly what was happening as he went. They should've prepared better for this moment. When Haru saw other zombies he always ran the risk of reverting back to his own zombie ways to protect their group from them. And Chiyo must be doing the same. He must see Haru as a threat to Kisumi... And now that Kisumi thought about it, he recalled Hayato saying that Haru got worse around the zombies from Iwatobi. There was a possibility that Chiyo was worse around Haru because Haru was the zombie that turned Chiyo.

Well fuck.

Would it always be that way? Would Chiyo and Haru never be able to be themselves as long as they were around each other? Kisumi didn't want that to be the case. He wanted to help both of them.

Kisumi could hear their cries again now. Haru sounded further way. Perhaps he should appeal to Chiyo to get him to leave Haru alone. It was seemingly Kisumi who Chiyo was here for, after all. But before he could say another word, he heard what sounded like something large falling down a ledge. It had to be Chiyo. Within moments, Haru was by Kisumi's side.

Despite what was going on, when Kisumi looked into Haru's eye he knew that it was his Haru there, not a zombie who'd lost control.

“...Nooot m-much... t-tiiimee befooore... he re-recoveerrrsss...” Haru hissed, “...I haaave t-to... l-leeave... He woon't g-get betteeerrr... wiith meee... aroo-ound... N-not yeeet...”

As much as Kisumi knew that what Haru was saying was true, he was still afraid of the prospect. He shook his head, trying to steady himself.

“I'm scared...” Kisumi whispered, “I'll do it, I promise that I will, but how can I help him without you...?”

“...Y-you helped mee... even th-thoough... y-yoou didn't knoow how...” reasoned Haru, “...I belieevee y-you caaan do... the s-saame foor him...”

Kisumi wanted to say that was different. In Haru's case, Kisumi always had Makoto and Sousuke there as well. It felt like the two of them did the most to help Haru, no matter how many times Haru's told him that Kisumi sitting and talking to him made a difference. If that was all that Kisumi could offer Chiyo, then he didn't feel too good about making it through this.

Somewhere close by, Kisumi could hear the sound of movement. Chiyo was getting up. They didn't have much time left.

“Will you come back?” Kisumi pleaded.

“...Alwaays... I w-won't be faaar awayyy...” promised Haru.

But for now, Haru had to go. As Chiyo's shadow loomed up in the darkness, Haru dashed away, winding between the trees to make it harder for Chiyo to give chase. As Kisumi watched Haru disappear, he bit back the sadness.

“I love you...” he said, though he doubted that Haru could hear him.

It was Kisumi's turn to take action now. Even though he had no idea what he was doing. As Chiyo made to go after Haru again, Kisumi spoke directly to him.

“Chiyo, stop!” he cried, “He's gone! You've scared him off, okay...? You... protected me...”

That wasn't what Chiyo had actually done, but in Chiyo's own mind that must've been what it felt like. Haru was what seemed to be a threat to Kisumi. A threat that Chiyo had sent packing. Or at least that was how it seemed to be... going on the assumption that Kisumi was the one who Chiyo was coming for in the same way that Haru had followed them for Makoto. As Chiyo slowly walked towards Kisumi, suddenly Kisumi had doubts about that. Maybe Chiyo hadn't come for him after all. What if Hibiki was the one Chiyo was connected to? Because Hibiki was wandering Iwatobi as a zombie. There was no way Hibiki could help Chiyo now...

But Kisumi stayed rooted to the spot all the same. Because he had to have faith, both in Chiyo and in Haru.

When Chiyo reached Kisumi, for a moment he just stood there. Close up, he was even more imposing than he had been before. Some of the blood on him was still fresh, it was clear that as he'd travelled people had been trying to take him out with little success. His dreadlocks were matted in a way that Kisumi knew would have bothered Chiyo back when he was still human. The bite mark on his arm was the evidence that he'd been turned, as if anyone needed it. Nothing had stopped Chiyo from getting to Kisumi. People had tried, but he'd kept on going until he'd gotten to where he was right now.

Chiyo fell to his knees, almost as if he was bowing. Any doubts Kisumi had that he wasn't the one Chiyo had come for disappeared with that gesture. But even if Chiyo felt like his journey was over, that was actually far from the case. They had a long way to go and from now on a lot of what would happen depended on Kisumi. No longer could Kisumi take a back seat and let the others handle the worst of it.

He stepped forward and put a hand on Chiyo's head, patting it lightly. A tear rolled down his cheek.

“You did good...”

Kisumi was so very alone and afraid without Haru. But he was still here.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning, Kisumi has to face the fact that for the moment, he's the only one who can help Chiyo. But that acceptance doesn't come easy. Neither does Chiyo's understanding that Kisumi can't eat the dead animal Chiyo's just brought for him.

Morning came, but Kisumi hadn't slept a wink that night. Neither had Chiyo, but that was because Chiyo didn't need to sleep. Instead he lay near Kisumi, eyes never leaving him, as if he was keeping guard in case Haru came back. Most likely, that was exactly what Chiyo was doing.

Kisumi had no idea where Haru was now or if he could come back. Would they be able to ease Chiyo into accepting Haru's presence? Then there was Haru himself. He always became worse around other zombies, even though he did seem to be holding his own around Chiyo last night. Without being able to talk to Haru, Kisumi couldn't know just how badly Chiyo affected him or if that was something that would happen all the time. Perhaps Haru didn't know the answer himself. And their one reformed zombie expert, Hayato, could be anywhere in Japan right now. But wherever Hayato or Haru were, neither of them were here...

Part of Kisumi could've curled up and stayed where he was long into the morning. He felt so disheartened by all of this. But he knew that he couldn't help anyone by lying around moping. So at the crack of dawn, Kisumi pulled himself up. Just like Haru had shown him, he'd go hunting while the light was just starting to spread through the forest. Chiyo's head jerked up with Kisumi's movement, so Kisumi talked to him. Talking was the one thing Kisumi knew he could do.

“Let's go get some breakfast, okay?” he said.

As Kisumi started to walk away, Chiyo got to his feet. But surprisingly, Chiyo didn't follow Kisumi. Instead he lurched off into the forest on his own. Kisumi instantly worried that he was going after Haru and wanted to follow, but... he had to trust both of them to some degree. If anything went wrong, Kisumi would hear the noise and then he would come running.

For now, he made his way down to the river. It wasn't very wide here, so Kisumi might not have much luck, but he'd still give it a shot all the same. He cast his line and then sat down, missing the company of Haru by his side, since Haru had been there all the other times that Kisumi had been fishing like this.

His mind started to wander to the trading post nearby. It was close enough to the forest that raiders coming to and from there might pass through. With that in mind, keeping Chiyo here for too long was a risk. And yet taking him out on the road was also too risky at the moment. If something unexpected happened, then they'd have no way to control Chiyo or tell him to hide. There was so much that they couldn't do right now... Kisumi felt like a sitting duck.

After a short while, Kisumi heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like an animal. If nothing else, Kisumi was getting good at recognising the distinct sound of zombie cries and that noise wasn't it. Deciding that Chiyo had probably just caught something to eat, Kisumi got back to his fishing.

It wasn't long after that when Chiyo came back into view. Kisumi heard him before he saw him. He could hear the sound of something being dragged along the ground, knocking against trees as Chiyo went. It was a deer. A very whole, but very dead deer.

Once Chiyo had made his way over to Kisumi, he let go of the deer and backed off, seeming almost proud of himself. The deer's neck was broken and there were several bite marks across its body. It was almost impressive that Chiyo had taken down something this big.

But now he was giving it to Kisumi... Oh no.

“Chiyo, thank you, but... I can't eat this,” Kisumi said, though he wasn't sure how much of what he was saying that Chiyo could even understand, “Once you bite something, there's a risk that the infection could travel through to me. I-I don't know for sure if that could happen... but everyone says not to eat something Har- ...a zombie catches, just in case.”

Chiyo stared at him blankly, like always.

“You eat it, okay?” Kisumi tried, “I'll go back to fishing.”

With that, Kisumi settled back into his spot once more and cast his line again, trying not to look at Chiyo or the dead deer. Yet Chiyo made it very hard to ignore him or the deer. He let out a small whine, like he couldn't understand why Kisumi was ignoring his offering. Then he dragged the deer closer to Kisumi. When Kisumi continued to ignore it, Chiyo nudged the deer against his side over and over again. Being prodded by a deer carcass ranked pretty high on the list on things that Kisumi never expected would happen to him during his life.

“You eat it, Chiyo,” Kisumi repeated, sharper this time.

He still didn't make eye contact with Chiyo and that... seemed to work. Chiyo stopped trying to get Kisumi to notice the deer and eventually he stopped whining as well. Though Chiyo didn't eat the deer either. Perhaps in time, he would do. Once he'd fully accepted that Kisumi didn't want it.

Just as Kisumi was starting to calm down again, his line began to twitch. A fish had taken it! Once he felt the tug, Kisumi reeled it in, glad to finally have something that he could eat. The fish breached the water and it looked like a big one, even if Kisumi couldn't tell exactly what it was yet.

That was when Chiyo jumped to life. He sprang out into the river, splashing water everywhere as he did.

“Chiyo! No!”

It was too late. Chiyo had caught the fish in his mouth and tugged it off the line. Then he carried it across to Kisumi, as if delivering him his breakfast. And that was Kisumi's one chance at breakfast for a while. He wouldn't get any other fish in that river for now, not after Chiyo jumping in and scaring them all away.

“Look what you've done! I was going to eat that, but now I can't! I can't eat the deer and I can't eat that fish, okay? Don't you get it!” Kisumi screamed, letting all of his frustration pour out in that moment.

Chiyo took a couple of steps back in the river and then stopped still, the fish still dangling from his mouth. It felt like Chiyo didn't know what he'd done to upset Kisumi... Of course he didn't. He'd only been trying to help. Makoto had never yelled at Haru like this...

Feeling ashamed of himself, Kisumi sunk back against the ground and started to cry openly.

“I'm sorry... Y-you're just doing what you c-can and I... I yelled at you like you're some kind of wild animal...” Kisumi sobbed, “You're not... Y-you're still Chiyo...”

He didn't know what to do. He felt ashamed of himself for even sitting here crying like this, but what could he possibly do to help? For several moments, the only sound was Kisumi sniffing and the fish flopping about in Chiyo's mouth as the last of its life drained out of it. Then all of a sudden, Kisumi heard the fish slap against the water. Chiyo had dropped it.

When Kisumi looked up, Chiyo made his way over to him and lay heavily on the ground, curling up around Kisumi. They both must've looked truly helpless.

Kisumi tried to pull himself together. He reached a hand across to stroke through Chiyo's matted dreads as best he could. Once Chiyo was feeling more like himself, Kisumi would have to get those dreads tidied up for him. Chiyo had always taken such good care of his hair and his body... There was no reason why that had to stop just because he was a zombie.

“None of us could've predicted this, could we?” Kisumi asked. Chiyo looked up at him, but of course didn't respond. So Kisumi went on; “Back when we were all living in Sano and our petty teenage dramas felt like the biggest thing going on in our lives. Do you ever look back on those days and feel like... they were different people somehow? That if the people from back then saw us now, they wouldn't even recognise us?”

Chiyo kept staring. He said nothing.

“For a while, I used to think about those days a lot. Sometimes I still do. But not as much now as I did before,” Kisumi admitted, “I was luckier than most to get out of it with even a few people I cared about. Then when I found out you and Gou were still alive, I was luckier still. Sometimes I still think about those that we've lost... I think about my parents sometimes. But I'll share a secret with you - as much as I'd never wish what happened to them on anyone, if it had been Hayato who'd died back then instead of my parents, I don't think I'd have been able to go on... Hayato was... no, _is_ the most important person to me. Looking after him gave me a sense of purpose.”

With that, Chiyo rested his head on Kisumi's lap. Maybe he understood or maybe Kisumi was just talking to himself. Either way, talking made him feel better.

“You never liked my parents much, did you? With every little comment they made... I don't think they ever meant to sound harsh, they just wanted what was best for me. But I can tell that what they'd say about me bothered you sometimes,” Kisumi continued, “You were never good at hiding your feelings. Not from me. And that's why... I always knew, Chiyo. I knew that you liked me more as more than just a person you'd hook up with the odd time after we both got drunk at a bar, only to go back to normal the next day. But I acted like I didn't know, because the thought of anything more than that seemed too scary back then. I wasn't ready for a relationship. Would you hate me if you knew that I knew about your feelings and acted like I didn't?”

If Chiyo did hate Kisumi, then he didn't make his feelings known.

“And then after you met Haru... Hah. I was a bit worried about that, I'll admit. Turned out that I had nothing to worry about, did I? It made me so glad that you two got along well and you never held a grudge towards him over me. At least not that I could tell,” Kisumi said, “That's why... I hope we can figure this out, Chiyo. I want you to come home with us. We'll all live in the mountains together and be safe. Maybe the cottage might be a squeeze, but we can build and expand upon it. I bet Gou could help us get supplies easily enough.”

That was what Kisumi wanted. With everything going so roughly he'd lost sight of that, but he had to hold onto the belief that they could have a happy ending. That they could all get home safely. Even Hayato and his partner, although they all had to take it one step at a time. Kisumi couldn't do anything to help Hayato right now, but he could help Chiyo and Haru. Even if he wasn't sure how.

Kisumi cast his line again, despite knowing it was a fruitless effort. Sometimes you had to try anyway. He didn't have anywhere else to be today, so he could stay here until the fish hopefully came back.

And that was exactly what he did. He talked on and on. He barely stopped talking. About the life that they'd had, about the life that they all could have, about his hopes and worries, about Haru – a lot about Haru – and about... just anything that popped into his head. The whole time, Chiyo stayed there, curled around him with his head on Kisumi's lap.

It was late afternoon before another fish took hold of the line. Kisumi snagged it up out of the water, but this time Chiyo didn't go for it. The most Chiyo did was move away from Kisumi, so that Kisumi had more room to reel it in. It didn't take much effort before Kisumi had got the fish. He took it off the line and held it close.

“Look! I got this, I can eat this one,” he said to Chiyo, “I'll go set up a fire. Why don't you eat that deer, okay? You've waited long enough.”

Chiyo could've had the first fish, if it was still around, but it seemed to have floated off down the river somewhere. Regardless, Chiyo stayed where he was, watching Kisumi curiously as he set up a small fire to cook the fish. It wasn't until Kisumi started eating himself that Chiyo finally moved over to the deer and began to do the same. Even if, all the while, he kept glancing up at Kisumi, just in case Kisumi changed his mind about wanting the deer.

Now that he had food in him, Kisumi felt better about the whole thing. He still didn't have any answers to his questions, nor did he know when Haru would come back, but he'd made Chiyo understand him about the food and that felt like progress. There was a long way to go, but nothing that was worth having ever came easy. If Kisumi believed so strongly in that happy ending, he would work for it.

And Kisumi did believe in that happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of shameless plugging for if anyone wants some extra reading that's relevant to this chapter. A while ago I posted a collection called “Vague and Various”, which you can find on my account. It brings together a bunch of different drabble requests I'd written for people on tumblr, but hadn't previously posted on AO3. One of the drabbles included in that is about Kisumi and Chiyo. It gives a brief look into them hanging out together at a club and would be considered canon to this fic, showing what they were like together before the zombie outbreak. 
> 
> You're not going to miss out on anything if you don't read it, so don't worry about that. It's just if you wanted something extra. There's also a SouMako drabble in the same collection, even if it has nothing to do with this AU. But SouMako is always welcome as far as I'm concerned.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a while, Kisumi gets into a routine of staying in the forest with Chiyo. But being there is far from a permanent solution and it doesn't take long before reality gives him a reminder of why they need to get a move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between the last chapter and this one I posted a bonus story for this series called “Gold Rations Card”. It's a flashback, showing in more detail Hayato's situation in the facility prior to Haru, Sousuke and Makoto's arrival, written from the perspective of Daichi, the poor sap who has to deal with Hayato. It's not, like, essential reading if you want to skip it out, but it is going to be a while before Hayato and Daichi rejoin the main story again. So if you want to see more of them, there's this bonus story for now and honestly I'm pretty proud of how it came out.

It wasn't long before the sound of feral, zombie cries became a familiar one. Which wasn't okay, because the longer they stayed in the same forest making such a racket, the more they'd be at risk. But there was nothing that Kisumi could do about it and in the absence of a solution, he'd almost gotten used to the noise.

He wished that there could be another way, but so far there didn't seem to be one. As Chiyo cried out again, Kisumi knew what had happened. Haru had once again gotten closer to them, only for Chiyo to warn him off. They'd been here for more than a week now with no signs of improvement. Kisumi knew that Chiyo would most likely make progress on regaining his sense of self over time, but he didn't know if Chiyo would ever be able to handle being around Haru.

On the bright side, at least Chiyo didn't try to go after Haru any more. He'd learned that after making a warning cry, Haru would leave instantly. Part of Kisumi wondered if Haru should try to come closer to get Chiyo used to him, but he didn't want to put Haru at risk. It wasn't as if Kisumi could even talk to Haru to suggest something like that anyway.

Or was Haru waiting for Kisumi to do something? Perhaps there was a solution that only Kisumi could figure out. He'd spent a long time thinking about that with no results.

For the moment, Kisumi had kept to a routine in the hope that doing so would encouraging Chiyo to ease back into being himself. Chiyo did understand now that Kisumi needed to fish and hunt (for all Kisumi's attempts at hunting went terribly) without him getting in the way. He also seemed to understand that Kisumi couldn't eat the same food that Chiyo ate. When Kisumi spoke, he could tell that Chiyo was listening, even if he wasn't sure if Chiyo could understand what he was saying. Regardless, Kisumi kept talking anyway, in the hope that he could.

“I keep telling you – Haru is our friend. He's _your_ friend,” Kisumi said, after Chiyo had sent Haru packing that morning, “He told me about when you were travelling to Tokyo, how the two of you got along, how you saved him from all the zombies outside that facility. He's still the same Haru and you're still the same Chiyo.”

Perhaps not... exactly the same Chiyo. But close enough. He'd get there. For now though, Chiyo turned to walk away, probably off to hunt. The deer population in this one small forest had taken a hit since Chiyo came along. Amongst their other problems, Kisumi worried how long Chiyo would be able to sustain himself if they stayed here. Haru had said that zombies didn't actually need to eat, but the appetite that came with being a zombie was hard to control in the early stages. Chiyo was huge, so he might struggle harder than Haru did to get a lid on it.

“You're just being stubborn!” Kisumi called after him, “You'll have to let Haru come back soon, okay?”

But while Chiyo was distracted, perhaps now was the best time for Kisumi to try and find Haru on his own. Haru was fast, so he usually darted away before Kisumi had a chance to even see him, but Kisumi had a good idea of the direction that he'd come from. He set off through the trees, walking as quietly as he could, so he didn't attract Chiyo's attention. After a week, Kisumi had gotten familiar enough with the forest, so he knew his way around. He never ventured too close to the edges if he could avoid it, but it seemed like Haru had gone as far away from them as he could get, almost out the opposite side of the forest.

“Haru...?” Kisumi whispered.

As he walked, he noted that the trees were starting to thin out. He hoped Haru hadn't been staying somewhere too exposed. The last thing he wanted was for Haru to put himself at risk with the raiders or the compound while he was trying to avoid being at risk from Chiyo.

There was a rustle amongst the grass. When Kisumi turned around, Haru was there.

“Haru...! I've missed you!” Kisumi gasped.

He launched himself into Haru's arms, holding him tightly. Haru returned the embrace, even if he was always a lot more uncertain about hugging than Kisumi was. Right now, Kisumi was just elated to see him though. He was even considering taking the cling film out of his bag so that he could kiss Haru, but perhaps now wasn't the right time for that.

“...H-he'll... c-comee afterrrr... y-y-youuu...” Haru warned.

“I think he's off hunting, so we've got time,” said Kisumi, as he pulled back from the hug just far enough to take in Haru's face, “It's so great to see you! We have a lot to catch up on.”

Haru nodded; “...Hooow m-muuch... pro...greesss... has h-heee maadee...? ...It'ss haard to... t-tell whiiile I'm... ruunningg awaaay...”

“Not as much as I'd like,” Kisumi admitted, “I want to say that he might be developing at a similar rate to you. It took a lot longer than a week before you started talking again, after all. But you also didn't have to be around any other zombies much while you were coming back to being yourself.”

“...I coould... l-leeavee...” Haru offered.

“No! N-no... Please don't leave,” said Kisumi, “Not just because I want you to stay, but because... leaving isn't the answer. Chiyo will have to learn to be around you if we're taking him back to the cottage. This is part of his development.”

“...All righttt...” Haru said. It wasn't clear if he thought Kisumi was being difficult or not, but at least he agreed.

“On that note... how are you holding up?” Kisumi asked, “Does being around him make you act... you know?”

“...N-noot as baadly... as it c-could do... I thiiinkk...” said Haru, “...If it waaas... th-then I'd be over thee-eere... tryinggg to k-kill... hiiim... right n-noww...”

“That's a good point,” said Kisumi.

He hadn't thought about it like that, but hearing it in Haru's own words made him feel better. Haru was at least mostly okay around Chiyo. Hopefully that meant Chiyo could improve around Haru in time. But before Kisumi could say anything like that, Chiyo's cry suddenly sounded out from the other side of the forest. Kisumi and Haru looked at each other.

“...Buuut I'm... h-h-heree...” Haru said.

“And he doesn't usually make that much noise while he's hunting,” Kisumi added.

Another cry. Then another. Something was happening. Perhaps other zombies had wandered into the forest or worse than that, perhaps other people. Kisumi didn't know whether to be more worried for the people or for Chiyo.

There was no time. Kisumi and Haru let go of each other to rush back through the forest. Haru was faster than Kisumi. As Haru started to disappear ahead, Kisumi saw him look back over his shoulder.

“Don't worry about me! I'll catch up!” Kisumi yelled.

With that, Haru headed on without him. As much as Kisumi could follow the noise Chiyo was making, he didn't know how much it'd help the situation if Haru got there without him. In all likelihood, Haru would make Chiyo worse. But they didn't have time to think of another solution. They didn't even know what was happening.

As Kisumi got closer, he heard gunshots to join the cries. His fears were confirmed. People had come after Chiyo. They'd dallied in this same forest for too long and it was too close to that trading post for them to not be noticed.

How the hell could Kisumi explain to raiders that these were his two zombie friends and they'd be fine if everyone just left them alone?

He raced through the trees, pushing branches and bushes aside as he went. He was almost there now, he could hear voices as well as shots. It was terrifying.

“Pull back! Pull back before he maims us!”

“Just let the bait go! That's what he wants!”

“Shit..! There's two of them!”

“Zombies aren't like this... This is crazy... Just how...?”

A body was thrown into a tree near Kisumi. As it slumped to the ground, Kisumi realised that it wasn't fresh enough to be a living human, but it also wasn't Haru or Chiyo. It was another zombie... And it looked like it had some kind of collar around its neck.

The raiders had brought zombies as... bait? Was that something people did? In Kisumi's experiences, people stayed away from zombies. But apparently that wasn't always the case. Not that he had time to dwell on it right now, as Chiyo soon followed the zombie that he'd tossed against the tree. He landed on it with a sickening thud. The next thing Kisumi knew, Chiyo was snapping its neck. Kisumi had to look away... His body was shaking. But he needed to help...!

“Get it! While it's distracted! Take the shot!”

A bullet sailed into Chiyo's back. It didn't even phase him.

“What about the fast one? F-fuck! Where's it gone?”

They must've meant Haru. Kisumi looked around for him. As he peered out through the trees, he saw three raiders, armed to the teeth and with the bodies of several zombies lying all around them. It looked as if they'd brought the zombies on those leashes, but Chiyo (and Haru?) had taken them out.

Once Chiyo was satisfied that the zombie whose neck he'd just broken had been suitably dealt with, he turned back to the raiders.

“Fuck it, I'm out!”

One of the raiders ran. His companions tried to stop him, but then Haru jumped out from behind the trees and charged towards the remaining two. Haru wouldn't hurt a person. Kisumi firmly believed that, even after Haru had infected Chiyo. But the raiders didn't know that. They did know how fast Haru was though, so they pelted off through the trees as fast as their legs could carry them.

If Haru had wanted to follow, then he would've already caught them.

“Thank goodness...” Kisumi whispered.

Not that the sight in front of him was much cause for relief. There were corpses scattered around and even if the bullet wouldn't kill Chiyo, there was still some kind of liquid oozing out of his back from where it had impacted. The scene was a mess, but at least they'd gotten rid of the raiders.

Kisumi stepped out from behind the tree, but before he got close, reality reminded him of his situation. Haru made his way over to the corpse closest to him, lowering his head as if he was going to... going to eat it. Haru, no...!

When Chiyo saw that, he wasn't having it. He charged at Haru and bellowed loudly. The noise was enough to send Haru back several paces. Haru then looked down at the corpse, before looking up at Chiyo, as if he was sizing up his options. In the end, he took the sensible route and headed back towards the trees, not confronting Chiyo.

“Haru!” Kisumi yelled, cupping his hands together, “We're leaving now! Right now! If you can understand, then try to follow at a distance!”

Chiyo looked over at Kisumi as he yelled, but didn't otherwise make a move. Most likely Chiyo wanted to dine on the spoils of his victory. But Kisumi couldn't let him to that. He motioned firmly with his arm.

“Come on, Chiyo! We're leaving!” Kisumi called.

To show that he was serious, Kisumi turned and walked away. At first Chiyo didn't follow him at all, though he also didn't go back to trying to eat the other zombies. Kisumi heard Chiyo start to whine in that low tone, like he did when he'd been trying to get Kisumi to eat the deer. But Kisumi didn't relent. He kept walking without looking back.

Soon enough, he heard Chiyo following him. Chiyo was still whining, but he came with Kisumi all the same. For now, Kisumi had things under control. Soon enough though, the three of them would leave the shelter of the forest and Kisumi didn't know if they were ready to handle what was out there. All he knew was that they could no longer stay here.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisumi takes a gamble by leading Haru and Chiyo out into the open. He wants to go back the way they came as much as they can, but he forgets that the compound has been rolling out some changes that might make that journey harder than before. And if Haru falls victim to these changes, then there's very little Kisumi can do to help him...

It was impressive how far you could get without any idea what you were doing sometimes. Kisumi remembered when he was younger, when he'd done some summer work at his uncle's real estate agency. In many aspects of the job, Kisumi had no idea what he'd been doing, but he got by through using his charisma and winging it. Sometimes the best way to learn was by figuring it out as you went.

But the difference was that in his old summer job, Kisumi always had his uncle to fall back on if he messed up. Also, if something did go wrong, then the consequences weren't too severe. Errors in paperwork could be fixed, people could be apologised to.

Out here, if Kisumi made a mistake, someone could die. Haru could die, Chiyo could die, innocent people they passed on the way could die, even Kisumi himself could die.

With that in mind, winging it wasn't the most ideal solution. Yet right now it was the only one Kisumi had.

The three of them had to leave the forest. It was foolish to think they could've stay there too long without being noticed. Those raiders would come back and they might bring others. They'd seen both Chiyo and Haru, so they knew there were two dangerous zombies waiting for them. Because of that, Kisumi had to get Chiyo and Haru as far away from the forest as possible.

Chiyo wasn't ready to go back to the cottage yet, but Kisumi headed in that direction anyway, because it made sense to move closer to home. Even if they walked non-stop, they still had many days ahead of them before they'd get close to those mountains, so it wasn't as if Kisumi was bringing Chiyo right to their doorstep just yet.

The hardest part was being out in the open, though Kisumi tried his best to stop them from being exposed. He kept to the cover of trees and hills as much as he could, as well as walking close to rivers. But the fact remained that there were long patches of the journey where there was nowhere to hide. Which was a risk both for them being spotted and for Haru coming into Chiyo's line of sight. In the forest, when Chiyo saw Haru, he'd cry out at him until Haru disappeared behind the trees. But here, when Chiyo saw Haru, he'd keep making that noise until Haru was completely out of sight. Which meant that Haru had to backtrack a lot... It was worrying to have Haru be so far away from them, but right now they had no other choice.

Kisumi didn't properly consider the other problem with travelling like this until it was too late. And that problem was that even if they followed the exact route back as they'd came, that there would have been changes along the way. Considerably big changes, in some cases.

They passed a camp of compound guards, which was nerve-racking enough on its own. Even from far away, Kisumi constantly worried that they'd get spotted. As they walked, Chiyo started to whine again. He was moving lower to the ground than before, but he was still moving and in Kisumi's mind, that was the important part. There was a ridge further along. If they could get there without being seen, then Kisumi would feel a lot better.

“Just a bit further, Chiyo...” Kisumi whispered.

The whining didn't stop, but Chiyo kept slowly moving. By the time they reached the ridge, Chiyo collapsed on the ground, almost as if he was relieved.

“What's wrong with you?” Kisumi asked in concern, as he rubbed Chiyo's back. Not that Chiyo could answer, but Kisumi always spoke to him anyway.

As Chiyo panted in a way that made it seem like he'd just ran a marathon, Kisumi risked a glance back the way they'd came. Because Haru would have to make the same journey they'd just made. Would compound guards shoot a wandering zombie? Kisumi had a feeling that they would. Even if Haru on his own was less suspicious than a human like Kisumi walking with a monster zombie like Chiyo.

Kisumi watched for a few minutes without catching sight of Haru at all. Even if Haru was being especially cautious of keeping his distance from Chiyo, Kisumi should've seen him by now. Was something holding him up? Kisumi had to find out the answer to that question. He patted Chiyo's back and then made to go back the way they'd came.

“I'm going to check on Haru. You stay here,” he said.

As Kisumi began to walk away, Chiyo let out a pained whine and turned around to follow him, though it was clear that he didn't want to go back the way they'd just came.

“Stay here,” Kisumi repeated.

There was no need to raise his voice with Chiyo any more, unless it was an emergency. Chiyo seemed to listen to Kisumi to some degree now. It was apparent that this order wasn't to Chiyo's liking, but he still sat down to show that he'd wait.

Leaving Chiyo under the cover of the ridge, Kisumi stepped back out into the open. Although he still wasn't certain that the guards wouldn't shoot if they saw him on his own, he also knew that he was the least at risk this way. So he walked more confidently without any zombies following him.

As Kisumi headed back, he kept an eye out in all directions for Haru. Sometimes the routes Haru took to follow them weren't direct, so he could throw Chiyo (and probably anyone else) off his trail. With that in mind, Haru could be anywhere.

Perhaps Kisumi was wasting time by looking for him. There was the possibility that Haru had found another way around the camp. Yet Kisumi couldn't keep himself from worrying. He'd now walked back almost the entire length of the distant camp looking for Haru.

That was when he saw it. A body lying on the ground.

“Haru!”

Kisumi rushed over, his first thought being that a guard had shot Haru. But as he got to Haru's side, he realised there was nobody around other than the two of them. If there had been any guards, then they would've made themselves known by now. It was just Haru, lying there, panting heavily in the same way that Chiyo had been.

“Haru! What's happening?” Kisumi asked, as he pulled Haru into his arms.

When Haru looked at him, his one eye seemed almost dazed. Kisumi realised too late when he'd seen that expression before.

“The cure...” Kisumi mumbled.

Haru nodded. He couldn't even bring himself to talk right now, let alone walk. What an idiot Kisumi was! Of course all the compound camps would have those machines set up by now, those vans rolling them out had been everywhere!

It was a miracle that Chiyo had made it all the way across, but Haru was struggling. Kisumi had to help him to the other side and hope they wouldn't be seen. But even if they made it across, Chiyo would be waiting there and he wouldn't take kindly to seeing Haru.

There was no other choice. Haru couldn't make it on his own and Kisumi wouldn't leave him here.

“Let's go then,” Kisumi decided.

If Haru disagreed with him, then he didn't have the energy to protest. Instead he let Kisumi slip his arm over his shoulder and pull him along. Kisumi wished that he could do more to make the journey easier for Haru, but this was the best he could manage. Every now and then, Haru would try to take a step, but mostly his legs dragged uselessly behind him.

Haru was heavy, even if he was easily the lightest member of their group. Kisumi struggled, but he wouldn't give up. Each step brought him closer to where they were going, no matter how far away they seemed.

Then the roar came.

Kisumi wasn't even surprised. He looked up to see Chiyo making his way over to them from the ridge, though the effect from the cure, a noise heard only by the two zombies, saw to it that Chiyo stayed low to the ground as he walked. It wouldn't stop him though. It hadn't stopped him on the way over and it wouldn't stop him on the way back. If it did, there was no way that Kisumi could carry Chiyo anyway. But the more likely outcome was that Chiyo would make it over to them.

And then he'd fight Haru... at a time when Haru couldn't defend himself or run away.

There was nothing that could be done. This was where winging it had gotten Kisumi in the end.

As if to amplify this message, a shot came soaring through the air and just missed Chiyo. When Kisumi looked over, he saw a single guard in the distance. The guards usually travelled in twos, but even one on their own was dangerous. From where the guard stood, it might've looked like Haru was just an injured person and Chiyo was coming for them. But they'd still get caught. The cure would render Haru and Chiyo helpless. They'd die. They'd both die.

Kisumi's knees buckled, but he kept walking. He didn't even know what he was trying to do at this stage, just that he had to keep going. Another shot went past Chiyo. The guard had terrible aim, which was a small mercy.

The gap between them and Chiyo closed. Kisumi looked across at Chiyo, knowing what he was going to do to Haru. So Kisumi held Haru close. Another shot was fired, but it seemed that the guard was reluctant now that Chiyo was near to them. Not that it made a difference.

Kisumi stared at Chiyo, he stared right into his eyes and sobbed.

“I love Haru... Please don't do this to him...”

It was over. Chiyo reached across to Haru and then he... he pushed Kisumi out of the way.

“Chiyo, no... Please, please don't...”

Kisumi felt so weak that he couldn't even shout any more. Haru was going to die. Even if Kisumi could get himself and Chiyo away from the guard after that, Haru would still still be dead. He reached across, trying desperately to grab at Chiyo's arm.

“I love him...”

That was when... Chiyo didn't rip Haru to shreds. Kisumi's heart was in his mouth, but he watched as Chiyo scooped Haru up into his arms. The cure was affecting Chiyo as well, he was almost doubled over with the pain of it. But even so, Chiyo held Haru close to his chest and began to walk back towards the ridge. Chiyo was protecting Haru from the bullets.

And the bullets did keep coming. As Kisumi followed Chiyo in some kind of dream-like confusion, the guard kept trying to fire at Chiyo. Some of them hit, but the bullets didn't stop Chiyo. He kept moving and he kept a hold of Haru.

They wouldn't be safe at the ridge now. Despite clearing the distance, the guard would come and they'd probably bring more. Once they reached the ridge, Chiyo started to lower Haru to the ground. Kisumi tugged Chiyo's arm to stop him.

“We have to keep moving... They'll come for us!”

Chiyo grunted, but he seemed to understand. Keeping Haru close, he pressed on. As they walked, the further they got from the camp, the stronger Chiyo became. His steps had more strength to them and he wasn't so low to the ground. They could go faster now. In Chiyo's arms, Kisumi could see that Haru was also coming back from the cure's influence, but Haru stayed silent, looking up at Chiyo like he was a curiosity. At this point, that was exactly what Chiyo was.

They walked and they walked until Kisumi had no idea how much distance they'd put between themselves and the guard, but Kisumi didn't want to stop walking. He only accepted that they had to stop when the sun began to set and they at least had some bushes to hide behind.

He watched Chiyo stagger on ahead. It can't have been easy having to carry someone for so long, especially not while fighting off the urges to maim that person, but Chiyo had done it.

“We can stop now, I think,” Kisumi said.

Chiyo turned his head back to Kisumi. He didn't nod, but he did lower Haru to the ground. When Haru stepped down, Kisumi suspected that Haru could've started walking on his own again some time ago. It was all right for some, letting a giant zombie carry you to safety. But honestly, Kisumi was still too elated that they'd made it out alive to feel much of anything else. He flung his arms around Haru.

“Thank goodness! We made it... You made it!” Kisumi cried.

He kissed Haru's forehead, despite all of Haru's previous warnings about kissing him. It wasn't as if Kisumi was going to get infected by Haru's... uh, zombie juices from just kissing his forehead. Unless it was... sweaty? Did zombies sweat? Kisumi wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer to that. But anyway, Kisumi hadn't been infected, so it was fine. Besides Haru seemed too relieved to argue about it. He took Kisumi's hands and stared across at him.

“...Thoought.... w-we werrreee... d-done fooor...” Haru said.

Kisumi let out a manic giggle; “Me too...! I was terrified! I still am a bit... But we're here!”

He squeezed Haru's hands. For a moment, Haru regarded him quietly. Then he spoke up.

“...W-whaat you... saaid b-baaack theeere...” said Haru, “...I... I l-looove you... t-t-tooo...”

In a single moment, Kisumi went from being pale to being pink. He dived at Haru so hard that the force knocked them both over. Kisumi's giggles were joined by Haru's own barking zombie laugh. They were alive and they loved each other. Holy shit. What more could Kisumi ask for?

As if to answer that question, Chiyo loomed into view. The whole reason they were safe was because Chiyo had finally trusted Haru. Would this be it? Would this mark an improvement in Chiyo's developing sense of self that would mean Haru could travel with them?

Chiyo pressed in close, pushing past Kisumi until his face was very close to Haru's. Neither of them knew what Chiyo was going to do.

Then he roared loudly in Haru's face, as if venting frustration, only to turn and stalk away from them both. He walked some distance, though thankfully stayed close to the cover of the bushes, and then he slumped heavily onto the ground, facing away from them both.

Zombies didn't need to sleep, so did that mean that Chiyo was... sulking? He'd never been a jealous person while he'd been alive, at least not that Kisumi had seen. But no matter what Chiyo was doing right now, he'd still helped them and that was the important part. This was progress.

“Thank you, Chiyo!” Kisumi called over, since Chiyo deserved thanks after everything he'd done, “We'll set off again in the morning, okay?”

No response. Chiyo ignored him completely.

“...I th-thiiink... it's goii-iing... t-to be... okaaay...” Haru said.

Kisumi nodded, resting his head on Haru's shoulder. For the first time in a while, Kisumi felt that it was going to be okay as well.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three of them can travel together now, but this doesn't come without its problems. When Kisumi wakes up one morning, it seems that Chiyo has had a relapse and is now hunting Haru...

After what happened at the camp, travelling became considerably easier. The three of them could travel as a group now... mostly. Although it seemed that Chiyo had accepted Haru's presence, there were still times when it overwhelmed him and he'd become hostile until Haru left for a while. It wasn't nice to watch, but Haru told Kisumi that he understood what Chiyo was feeling. Perhaps Haru was the only one who could understand.

Yet for the most part, the three of them travelled together. Of course all of the problems around them still existed – as much as they tried to stay away from the remainders of civilisation, they couldn't fully escape people or zombies and to make matters worse, the cure seemed to be coming into effect in more and more places – but Kisumi liked to believe that they were doing the best they could. They were all still there and they were still alive, which was what mattered most. As well as that, while it wasn't ideal, Chiyo at least seemed able to keep himself together through the cure long enough to be able to carry Haru to safety when they couldn't avoid it. Kisumi suspected that Haru didn't object too much to being carried by Chiyo either.

On one such occasion, they'd edged around a previously unmanned tollbooth and made it up onto the mountain. As Chiyo set Haru down, Kisumi looked back the way they'd came, watching the road far below them.

“We passed this way when we were looking for Chiyo, didn't we?” he asked.

“...Y-yess...” Haru answered.

“And there were just zombies down there,” Kisumi said, “But now there aren't even bodies. It looks like there's people fixing it up.”

Perhaps Kisumi was pointing out the obvious. For them to have just gone through another wave of the cure, it of course meant that there were people around. But Haru didn't reply in a way that felt like Kisumi's words were redundant.

“...Theeey w-will... claaaim b-baa-aack wh-whaat... is theirsss...” said Haru, “...If th-they are... f-flushiingg out the... z-zombiieeesss... we'll seee it m-moree aaand... moreee...”

“Until they're playing that sound all across Japan...” Kisumi sighed.

He still didn't know what the answer to that was. All Kisumi could hope was that the compound wouldn't bother to set the cure up in remote places like the mountains they lived in, but he didn't know for sure if they wouldn't. If they were putting the cure into tiny tollbooths like the one they'd just passed, then that could mean they would put it anywhere.

Kisumi's other hope was that Hayato would find the answer, but he had no idea how likely that was either. All he could do was hope that everything would work out and dread what might happen if it didn't.

“...Th-theeere's noothinggg... we c-caan do... f-for now...” said Haru, “...Miight a-as weell... keep g-goingg...”

That was their philosophy on everything, it seemed, but Kisumi had no reason to object. So the three of them pressed on. They still had quite a journey before they'd reach the mountainous region they called home, but these mountains would grant them cover.

The first time Kisumi and Haru had come this way they hadn't been bothered by anyone, so it seemed like a safe enough area. With that in mind, Kisumi wondered if he should suggest staying here for a week or two, so they could help Chiyo progress through his recovery before taking him back to the cottage. After all, Chiyo might've been coming back to himself as quickly as he could in the circumstances, but that didn't mean he was ready to be thrown in with so many other people. It might be too much for him.

As it began to grow dark, Kisumi set up camp for the night. He felt safe enough to make a fire, which was a rare luxury. While Kisumi wanted to believe that he'd made progress while being out in the wilderness, a big part of him still missed the comforts of a warm fire and a roof over his head. He'd never fully get used to the great outdoors, as hard as he tried for everyone else's sake. Even so, it was nice enough to get to cook his food over a warm fire before turning in for the night. He even treated himself to some of the canned goods that Gou had given him when they'd set out, partly because the cans were heavy to carry around in his pack.

He'd offered some spaghetti-with-little-sausages-in-tomato-sauce (as the can read) to both of the zombies, but Chiyo walked away and Haru had merely barked out a laugh. Haru seemed to laugh a lot more as a zombie than he'd ever had done as a human. Oh well, it was their loss.

Feeling full and content, Kisumi settled down for the night. Once the morning came, he could suggest his idea of sticking around here for a while. But for now, Kisumi let himself drift off to sleep.

He woke up the next morning to the sound of Chiyo's zombie cry bellowing loudly across the rocky surroundings. As much as Kisumi was getting used to that sound, it generally meant something had happened to upset Chiyo. It was possible he was having a relapse and chasing Haru away.

So Kisumi pulled himself up and shook the sleep out of his system, before looking around for any sign of Chiyo or Haru. At first he couldn't see either of them, but then Haru's smaller figure appeared on the top of one of the rocky peaks. He was far enough away that Kisumi couldn't make out exactly what was going on, but it looked as if he'd paused to check behind him, before he started moving again. Haru raced down the rocky ridge, but then just behind him, in the spot where he'd been stood moments ago, Chiyo's bulky form appeared and took a swipe. There was another cry and then Chiyo was hurtling down after Haru, rocks coming loose as he ran.

Haru reached the ground before Chiyo did and disappeared into a patch of trees, but Chiyo was hot on his trail, tearing up the ground as he went. Kisumi's heart was in his mouth. Up until now, Chiyo seemed to be able to hold his own around Haru enough to just yell at him until Haru left. But now he was actively chasing Haru again. That was a huge step backwards.

Kisumi hurried across to where he'd seen them both head into the trees, but before he could even get close, Haru came out again. Haru pelted across the plains at full speed, before diving into another patch of trees. God, the others used to tell Kisumi that, as a human, Haru had been so slow on land, but now he seemed faster than anyone Kisumi had ever met. Which was thankfully the edge he had over Chiyo, who was now a bit further behind as he made to follow Haru.

“Chiyo, stop!” Kisumi cried.

But he was still too far away for Chiyo to hear him. How long could Haru keep running like that while Chiyo pursued him? Kisumi had to reach them before then.

All the while that Kisumi came closer, the two zombies raced in and out of the trees, Chiyo's frustration seeming to grow more and more as he couldn't catch Haru. It wouldn't bode well for if he did catch Haru...

The two of them headed down over another ridge and then Kisumi couldn't see them. Yet he heard a zombie cry that he knew belonged to Haru. That wasn't good. Haru generally stayed quiet until he was actually threatened.

When Kisumi made it to the top of the ridge, he saw a sight that set him into a panic. Chiyo was towering over Haru, who now lay on his back on the ground. Kisumi tried to call over, but his breath caught in his mouth. Then Chiyo pressed closer, lowering his head as if he was going to finish Haru off...

...But instead he plucked something out of Haru's mouth.

Kisumi squinted to get a better look. It seemed to be some kind of animal carcass, probably a rabbit, which was now dangling from Chiyo's jaws. Haru let out another weak cry and tried to press forward, but Chiyo held him down with a strong arm.

That was what they'd been fighting over?

Having deemed Haru no longer a threat, Chiyo got off him and turned away to try and eat the rabbit, but that turned out to be a mistake. Haru sprang up from where he'd been pinned and raced around to snatch at the rabbit again, trying to pull it out of Chiyo's mouth. Chiyo tugged backwards with enough force that the rabbit snapped in two, blood flying out in a way that made Kisumi wince.

Now half of the rabbit was with Chiyo and the other half was with Haru. The two zombies just stood staring at each other for a moment, as if trying to figure out what had happened. Then, once the moment had passed, Haru settled down and started to eat. Chiyo watched him for a while and then copied his example. The two of them were now eating peacefully together, as if their scuffle had never happened.

Kisumi watched them, trying to piece it all together in his mind. So it seemed like Haru had caught some food and then Chiyo had tried to take it from him. In most other cases, Haru would've probably just surrendered his catch to Chiyo and then gone to find something else. There was no reason for Haru to have put up such a struggle like he had done.

Unless Haru... wanted to?

That sounded bizarre, but the more Kisumi thought about it, the more he realised that it made sense. Chiyo was the only other person with them who was like Haru. Even if they were still very different from each other and Chiyo had a long way to go before he became mostly human again, he was still similar to Haru on a level that none of the others were. He could push Haru to his limits, for no other reason than because Haru wanted someone to do that. Almost as if he wanted someone to play with. Maybe that was far-fetched, but Kisumi couldn't shake the feeling that was it.

All this time, Kisumi had been worried that Chiyo would never be able to recover around Haru, just like Haru couldn't around the Iwatobi zombies. He never considered that Chiyo might be able to help Haru in this way.

As Kisumi watched the two of them eat together, he realised that he felt good about this. That taking Chiyo to the cottage was no longer about easing a sense of guilt over him being infected, but because having Chiyo there could make a difference, to Kisumi, Haru and Chiyo.

He thought about going down there to join them, but then he decided to give the two of them this moment to themselves. This was something that was theirs, that Kisumi couldn't fully connect to. And after all, there would be plenty of times when Haru and Kisumi had moments together in different ways. Kisumi didn't feel jealous just because Haru had made a, uh, zombie friend. Especially not since that zombie friend was someone who Kisumi also cared about.

So for now, Kisumi walked back over to clear up his camp from last night. Perhaps they would stay here for a while, but perhaps Chiyo was already making more progress than Kisumi had realised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little something extra as well as the new chapter. My friend Holly was asking me what the rest of the main cast of this series might've been like if they'd become special zombies instead of Haru and Chiyo. So I wrote out a little “What if” post exploring that idea: https://sunkenscruffycat.tumblr.com/post/170455765239/hey-so-starryamber-asked-me-what-trail-mix-might


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even if he hasn't shown signs of regaining his speech, Chiyo has been making progress lately and Kisumi is satisfied with this. Yet just as Kisumi starts to think about when their group might be ready to go back home, he lands himself in some danger without either of his zombie companions around to help him.

Kisumi sat cross-legged, staring at Chiyo in a way that had become routine, even if it had yet to yield results. They'd been on this mountain for several days now, after Kisumi and Haru reached a decision that it was the safest available place that they could try to help Chiyo make progress before taking him back to their own mountains, where the others were waiting for them.

On one hand, Kisumi felt confident that they were already well within the six month time limit Sousuke had given them to get back to the cottage. It was a shame they had no way of contacting the others, because then Kisumi could let them know that even if they took longer than six months, they had found Chiyo and were on their way back. Because it wouldn't help anyone if Sousuke set out to find them, only for Kisumi, Haru and Chiyo get get back after he'd left. But hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

On the other hand, while Chiyo's general progress had been as fast as they could hope for, he was still yet to start talking. Which was what Kisumi had been trying to help him with since they'd stopped on this mountain. Kisumi could tell that Chiyo understood what he was saying, even if sometimes Chiyo chose to ignore him. They'd even gotten to the stage that when Kisumi asked him questions, Chiyo would nod or shake his head in response, but that was as far as they'd gotten.

Haru wasn't at all worried. He claimed that Kisumi just needed to keep talking to Chiyo, as Kisumi had done with Haru in the beginning, and no matter how long it took, Chiyo would eventually start talking again. All of the reformed zombies Hayato had come across could talk to some degree, so it made sense that Chiyo would be able to as well.

But what if he didn't?

If he was some kind of exception and never regained his speech, that would be a difficult burden for him to carry. Of course they'd welcome Chiyo back regardless, but it would probably be frustrating for Chiyo to not be able to properly express himself. He already seemed to behave differently as a zombie than he had done as a human.

Maybe Kisumi was just worrying too much. For now, they'd keep going with this and see where it got them.

“-and Makoto gets kind of fussy about it when someone holds their gun wrong. Which I do all the time, because I just can't get the hang of guns. Makoto never says anything about it, but I can tell that it bothers him. Which is funny, when you consider that at the start of the outbreak, Makoto asked Sousuke to teach him how to hold a gun in the first place,” Kisumi explained, while Chiyo listened. The good thing about being Kisumi was that he never ran out of things to run his mouth off about; “You know, it feels like I've talked a lot to you about some of the others, but you don't really know them that well yet, do you?”

He paused, hopeful for a reply from Chiyo. Yet the only one that came was a shake of Chiyo's head.

“Yeah, well... I know you'd have seen Sousuke and Noriko around Sano when we were all younger, but Makoto and Haru were new to you,” Kisumi went on, “I can tell you like Haru, but what do you think about Makoto?”

Chiyo's response took longer this time, since it wasn't a yes or no question. Eventually, he raised and lowered his huge shoulders, as if in a shrug.

“You can't not like Makoto! Everyone likes Makoto,” Kisumi protested.

Another shrug.

“Wow, Chiyo... I feel like I'm learning a lot about you right now,” said Kisumi, though his words were in good humour.

If Chiyo did have some kind of problem with Makoto, then that came as a surprise to Kisumi. Both Chiyo and Makoto were mild-mannered people and they'd travelled to Tokyo together. It seemed odd that Chiyo wouldn't get along with him. Unless he blamed Makoto for his fate, but that seemed unlikely. If Chiyo felt that way, his reaction to Makoto would've been stronger than just a shrug. This seemed more like... indifference?

No matter what it was, Kisumi had been sat talking to Chiyo for a few hours now and his legs were getting stiff. It was time to call it quits for the moment. He got to his feet and stretched.

“Well, this has been nice, but I'm going to head off for a walk,” Kisumi said, “I think Haru was terrorising the rabbit population off over those ridges, if you wanted to join him.”

At one point, Chiyo would've followed Kisumi as soon as he started to walk away. But today, Chiyo headed off over a ridge, presumably to find Haru. It made Kisumi feel glad that Chiyo was expanding his world beyond Kisumi. Because back when Haru had first gotten infected, it wasn't until he was able to find the same sort of devotion to the others that he'd previously only had for Makoto that Haru was able to make progress. Chiyo had accepted Haru and that was good.

Besides, sometimes Kisumi wanted to go for a walk without zombies following him, even if he did count himself as lucky to be probably the only person in the world who had two reformed zombies looking out for him.

He headed off in the opposite direction from Chiyo, a little lower down the trail. He was exposed here, but they were far enough away from the road that he didn't think it was a problem. They'd yet to encounter anyone else around, probably because that tollbooth the compound had recently set up stopped people from heading into the mountains by road. You'd have to be determined to get around the tollbooth without being spotted.

...Perhaps Kisumi had underestimated that the three of them weren't the only people out here who were determined.

He'd been wandering without purpose for more than an hour before it came to his attention that something was off. Since coming to the mountain, Kisumi had kept their camp in the same place and hadn't taken supplies too far away from that location. Yet as he walked across a rocky patch, he started to notice evidence of another camp where there shouldn't have been one. A fire had been here, only to be covered over with sand once it had been finished with. Kisumi told himself that it could've been from a while ago, but as he walked, he also saw empty cans lying around that looked recent enough to be worrying.

They weren't the only people on this mountain.

With that in mind, Kisumi turned on his heels and started back in the direction he'd came from. It didn't have to be a problem as long as they stayed together and moved quickly. There wasn't a great deal of cover on this mountain, but they'd have to manage until they'd gotten safely through to the other side of it.

Whoever else was here, Kisumi assumed they must be raiders. After all, it made the most sense that raiders would travel off the road to avoid the tollbooth. The compound guards would've just driven along the road and also wouldn't have any need to set up a campfire, given that their vans seemed to provide them with whatever they needed to get from A to B.

Beyond that, he had no idea why these people might be here or what their intentions were. Kisumi knew little about raiders. The impression he'd gotten from Gou and Chiyo was that some raiders stayed in one area that they regarded as their territory, usually in an abandoned building they'd claimed as their own, while other raiders travelled around, living off the land as they went. It was the latter kind of raiders who Kisumi encountered at that trade post, just before they'd found Chiyo. If he had to guess, that was the kind of raider who'd be here.

Kisumi's mind was lost in these thoughts as he hurried back towards his camp. He knew that on the way to where he'd been walking that he'd taken a winding and indirect route, so now that he was heading back, he instead took a shortcut.

That turned out to be a mistake. As Kisumi cut through a patch of bushes, something snagged at his leg. It stung like nothing Kisumi had ever experienced and when he tried to pull away, something pulled back.

It was a wire snare.

By the time Kisumi realised that, he'd already cried out in pain.

He knew that was a mistake, but it had been his first impulse. He hoped that Haru and Chiyo might hear him, even if they were still far away, but Kisumi didn't get that lucky. It wasn't either of the zombies who came to greet him.

“What we got here? Some kind of man, by the looks of it, 'ey?”

The raiders. A decent-sized group of them. Kisumi was too panicked to focus on counting them, but there had to be at least five and they didn't look friendly towards strangers.

“Let me go! I mean no harm!” Kisumi cried, as the snare tightened around his ankle.

“If I had 100 yen for every time I heard that,” chuckled one man, who looked like the ringleader, “You look harmless enough on your own, pretty flimsy to be honest, but that makes it all the more suspicious that you're out here on your own.”

Kisumi jammed his mouth shut. He wouldn't put Haru and Chiyo in danger by talking about them.

“Which could mean you've got backup hiding somewhere,” said the ringleader, “But on the other hand... there's been all kinds of rumours and I recognise your face.”

“You... recognise me?” Kisumi gasped.

“Yeah, with hair like that you're hard to miss. You were at that trade post, weren't you? Me an' the boys saw you talking with some of the regulars, asking all sorts of questions about that super zombie, as if you actually believed it,” said the ringleader, “Thought you were crazy, to be honest. But then in the days after you left, people started hearing things from the woods... Don't do well to believe in stories where we come from, but when some folks come back one day, having their own zombies maimed by not one, but two freaky zombies, it's hard not to believe at least a bit. Would you know anything about that?”

“Why would I?” Kisumi hissed.

“I dunno, but you're the one who came asking questions and only after that were these zombies sighted. And now you're all the way out here, as if you're travelling somewhere,” the ringleader pointed out, “A slip of a man like yourself wouldn't last two minutes out here on your own. Something must be looking after you.”

“You must be crazy if you think that I've got some kind of super zombies doing that!” Kisumi yelped. He looked around the rest of the group, but none of them seemed willing to talk out against their leader; “Look... maybe I was asking because the stories scared me – I didn't want to run into anything like that while I was travelling. And I could ask the same of you! What are you doing so far away from that trade post?”

A rumble of a laugh came from the group, as if Kisumi was missing out on a joke.

“We're heading to the coast, like everyone else,” said the ringleader, “The world is changing again, so we want to see if they'll take us in at that town everyone's been talking about. Though I've heard they're picky.”

“What town...?” Kisumi asked.

He had no idea what the man was talking about, but it sounded important. The compound had made their intentions to claim back Japan clear enough, so Kisumi and the others couldn't be the only people wanting to avoid that. But were some people actively fighting back against it? Surely the raiders didn't stand a chance against the better-equipped compound guards, yet it seemed as if someone somewhere had a plan. So raiders were heading to a coastal town somewhere...?

“Stranger, how about I tell you more about that town when you tell me more about your super zombies?” offered the ringleader.

“They're not my zombies! I don't know anything about them!” Kisumi snapped.

“You're a liar and we could leave you here to rot, but that'd be a waste of a snare,” growled the ringleader.

He stepped into the bushes and grabbed hold of Kisumi's face. Kisumi tried to pull away from him, but he couldn't get far while his leg was caught in the snare, so he fell, hissing loudly as the prickly bush pierced his skin.

“Leave me alone!” he yelled.

Would Haru and Chiyo hear him? They were Kisumi's only chance of getting out of this situation. But on the other hand, if they came after Kisumi, then there was a chance they could get hurt or killed themselves. These people were armed and clearly prepared for anything, which was more than could be said for Kisumi, Haru and Chiyo.

“You wouldn't thank me if I did leave you alone,” jeered the ringleader, “Someone hand me a knife, I'm gonna cut the snare and then we'll bring this thing with us. Might get a good price on him somewhere.”

“I won't go with you! I'm not yours to sell!” Kisumi protested.

“Kinda loud, aren't you? Better put a stop to that...” the ringleader replied.

At first, Kisumi didn't know what the man intended to do, but then he felt a sharp blow to the back of his head and that was the last thing Kisumi knew for a while. He was out cold before he hit the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisumi wakes up in the back of a van, with no idea how long he's been out or where he's being taken. His only hope is that Haru and Chiyo can reach him in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up that I'm in the middle of a run of busy work weeks, which is why this fic isn't being updated as quickly as before. But don't worry, I certainly will still be working on it when I can. As you can probably tell from this chapter, we're getting close to the end of Wild Berries now, so I'm excited to move onto the next fic in this series once I've wrapped up this one.

As Kisumi started to wake up, he realised right away that he'd do well to pretend he was still asleep. What happened before he'd lost consciousness was coming back to him in an unhelpful blur, but he at least remembered that the people he was with weren't safe. Beyond that, he had no idea, but he could feel the rock of motion as he lay still, so he guessed that he was in the back of a some kind of vehicle. In front of him, he could hear murmurs of conversation, from people who were too close for comfort.

They had been... raiders? Yes, that was it...! Kisumi had been out in the mountains and got caught by a group of raiders. Although he didn't know what they'd been doing out there or where they were taking him now. One of them had mentioned something about a town and that they wanted to... sell Kisumi on? Perhaps that was what they were doing now, although they'd said the town was on the coast and they hadn't been anywhere near the coast when they'd knocked Kisumi out.

He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious for, but Kisumi doubted it was longer than a few hours at most. Which hopefully meant that they hadn't gotten too far away, although Kisumi still didn't know how likely it was that Haru and Chiyo would find him.

The two zombies... What would they do without Kisumi? Before he could let himself panic, Kisumi realised that they might actually be okay. It wasn't like how it had been when they'd first found Chiyo, because Haru and Chiyo could travel together now. When they came to areas protected by the cure, Chiyo could carry Haru through it, even if doing so wasn't easy on either of them. In theory, as long as they kept to unpopulated areas, the two of them could make it back to the cottage without Kisumi.

Yet Kisumi knew they wouldn't do that. He knew that they would try to find him as soon as they realised he was gone. All Kisumi could hope was that they wouldn't put themselves in danger by doing so.

Even if they did catch up, these raiders seemed ruthless enough that they would fight against Haru and Chiyo without hesitation. After everything they'd gone through, Kisumi couldn't stand to think of the others getting killed trying to rescue him from some raiders.

He tried to focus in on what the raiders were saying, while pretending he was still unconscious, so that they'd leave him alone.

“-all the way there and then it turns out to be for nothing? Then what?”

“Then whoever's running that show will have dozens of pissed off raiders tearing up their little town. No one's stupid enough to risk that.”

“Plenty o' stupid people out here. And I bet this cure thing has all the crazies crawling outta the wood works, claimin' to be the next Jesus or whatever.”

“The way I see it, even if this is a sham, what have we got to lose? Those guards are pushing everyone back more and more. It's either go to this town or hang around waiting to be shot. I know which one I'd prefer.”

“And do we take this guy all the way there with us?”

There was a pause in which Kisumi could tell people were looking down at him. He tried even harder to stay still, hardly daring to so much as breathe.

“Nah, it's a long way to haul him. I reckon we either sell him at the first opportunity or dump him if he becomes too much of a hassle. Taking him at all was probably a bad idea, but he seemed too shady just to leave him there.”

“What if he does have those super zombies guarding him and now they're coming after us?”

“Hah! Sounds like the stories got to you! Super zombies? What a load of cr-”

The van suddenly rocked. Everyone fell silent. Until a voice that Kisumi recognised as the ringleader called out to the driver.

“The fuck you doing? Did you drive over a body or summit?”

“Not me! Road's clear up front,” replied the driver, “Sounds like something hit us from behind?”

“Fuck off! Nothing could come up from behind like that!”

But then it happened again. The vehicle was rammed so hard that it swerved off course.

“Stop the van! Before we're knocked off the road!”

Kisumi felt what he now knew was a van screech to a halt, but that didn't seem to help the raiders' situation at all. As soon as the doors at the back of the van were opened and cold air blasted in, Kisumi could hear screaming. Yet he had to keep his head down. The raiders were still too close to him and if Kisumi moved now, then someone might shoot him in the panic.

“What the fuck is that?”

“I told you! I goddamn told you there were super zombies!”

...Haru and Chiyo! They'd come after all!

Upon hearing that, Kisumi couldn't stay still any more. He risked turning his head towards the open doors at the back of the van and then he opened his eyes to see them. They were still on the mountain and it looked like they hadn't even gotten that far from Kisumi's campsite. On one side of the road there were trees and on the other was a sheer drop. But Kisumi couldn't focus on that compared to the sight in front of him. The raiders were being thrown around like rag dolls, with Chiyo in the middle of them like an unstoppable force of nature. Haru was darting about, too, though Kisumi could hardly see him for a moment before he disappeared into the trees. And punctuating it all was the sound of gunshot from the raiders.

There was no way that even those two could've kept pace with a van, but as Kisumi looked closer, he saw that Chiyo's hands and feet were scratched and bloody. Even if the van hadn't gotten far away, Chiyo and Haru had put everything into catching up with it.

None of the raiders were in the van now, so Kisumi risked pulling himself up to his feet. He needed to draw Chiyo's attention, because no matter what else was happening right now, Chiyo wasn't showing the raiders any mercy. The look in Chiyo's eyes told Kisumi that he was too far gone in his zombie urges.

But even if Chiyo did show the raiders mercy, would the raiders show them any in return? As soon as Kisumi waved his arms, he saw a gun being pointed towards him, which seemed to answer that question.

“Call them off! Call off your zombies!” yelled the ringleader.

Kisumi nodded, not wanting to do anything that might upset someone with a gun; “...Chiyo! Hey, Chiyo! It's me! I'm safe...!”

Hearing his voice seemed to snap Chiyo out of his trance. He froze dead in his tracks and stared across to where Kisumi was standing in the back of the truck. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but Kisumi wanted to think that he saw relief in his eyes. So Kisumi climbed down from the van, aware that all eyes were on him.

“Look... everything's going to be all right,” he soothed, as he walked towards Chiyo, “We'll j-just... leave these people alone and be on our way, okay?”

Would the raiders even allow that? They had taken Kisumi hostage and some of the ones lying on the road looked critically injured from where Chiyo had attacked them, assuming they weren't dead already. If there had been rumours about zombies like Chiyo and Haru going around, then Kisumi knew that the raiders would believe they were a threat and try to take them out. He doubted that he could get the raiders to think the zombies were friendly after this.

Kisumi could feel the raiders growing twitchy as he approached Chiyo, but that didn't stop him. Once he'd reached Chiyo, Kisumi put a hand on his head, stroking through his matted dreadlocks.

“There now... it's okay...” he whispered.

“Fuck it! This is too weird!” snapped one of the raiders.

He couldn't tell which one, but it didn't matter. Because the next thing Kisumi heard was screaming and then a shot being fired. The shot sailed past Kisumi and Chiyo, missing its mark by a mile. But that was because Haru had jumped out of the trees and tackled the raider who'd fired to the ground.

“Haru!” Kisumi cried.

That man had a gun! What if he shot Haru?

Without any regard for his own safety, Kisumi rushed over to where Haru and the raider were now tumbling across the road, both of them struggling to get the other to stop. All of the raiders were pointing their guns at the scene, but none of them would come over to help their friend nor would they risk firing in case they hit him. They weren't that stupid.

But on the other side of the road... there was the drop. They were still on the mountain and this road hadn't been well-maintained over the years. As the two came closer to the edge, Kisumi knew that not even Haru could survive such a fall.

“Haru! Let him go! Just come ba-”

...It was too late. As Haru turned to look at Kisumi, the raider grabbed Haru's shoulders and attempted to throw him over the side. But at the last minute the raider lost his balance too, then both of them vanished over the edge.

_**“...H-HAAARR-RRUUUUU...!”** _

That voice rang in Kisumi's ears, drowning out even his own crying out for Haru. It was like the whole world was suddenly in slow motion. Before Kisumi even had a chance to realise where the voice had come from, Chiyo had dived over the edge after Haru. It had been Chiyo! He was the one who cried out for Haru!

But now...! They were both gone! Please, no! Kisumi couldn't lose both of them!

He rushed to the edge, not even caring that behind him, the last remaining raiders were hurrying to get away. They didn't matter now. Nothing else mattered except getting to the cliff. Kisumi dreaded what he would see, but he had to know.

When he looked over the side he saw...

“Haru! Chiyo! Th-thank goodness...!”

They were there. Chiyo held Haru in one strong arm, while his other arm gripped onto the rocky ledge. There was no sign of the raider, he must've fallen below, but right now Kisumi could only focus on getting these two up to safety.

“Okay, Haru? You're going to have to hold onto Chiyo so he can climb!” Kisumi called, since there was no way Kisumi was strong enough to haul Chiyo up.

Haru gave a small nod and then turned around, clinging onto Chiyo like a limpet to a rock. Now that Chiyo had both of his arms free, he could climb back up the cliff face. As soon as he got close enough, Kisumi grabbed onto them both and did the best he could to help pull them up over the edge.

The three of them landed in a heap on the road, all barely able to accept that they were still alive. They stayed there for several minutes, just staring up at the sky and thanking whatever it was that had kept them from falling.

It was Haru who sat up first.

“...Th-theey'ree... g-goonnneee...” he rattled.

At least they were mostly gone. When Kisumi joined Haru in sitting up, he looked around to see the remains of the raiders, but none of them were alive. Those who had lived had gotten back into their van and drove away, carrying on in the direction they'd been heading. With them they took the knowledge that the “super zombies” were real, although it was anyone's guess if people would believe them. For now, that was the least of Kisumi's worries.

“We should bury them...” Kisumi said.

“...Theeyyy t-triied... to k-kiilll usss...” replied Haru.

“I know, but... it feels like the right thing to do,” said Kisumi, “Even if you don't want to, please let me do it.”

“...Yoouuu knooww... we'd a-alwaayss h-helpp... youu...” said Haru. And as he got to his feet, Chiyo got up as well. Haru reached across and patted Chiyo on the shoulder; “...Th-thaaat wasss... someee w-war cryyy b-back theere...”

“Looks like Haru helped you find your voice after all, huh Chiyo?” Kisumi agreed.

Everything had happened so fast that Kisumi had barely been able to process it. But Haru was right, this was the first time that Chiyo had spoken since becoming a zombie. Even if it was just one word, it meant that they now knew Chiyo's speech could come back to him. When Chiyo merely nodded in response, Kisumi wasn't worried. After all, Sousuke had told him that it took a while for Haru to say more than the odd word or broken sentence, too. What he didn't expect was for Chiyo to point to him.

“Me?” Kisumi asked.

“...I th-thiiink... he m-meaans thaat... y-you h-heelped... as muu-uuch as I d-diid...” said Haru.

Chiyo nodded to that. Honestly, these two were too much.

“Ah... w-well, I'm glad you think so, but I just did what anyone would do...” Kisumi mumbled.

“...And y-yet... only Kisssumii is the... one t-too do iiit... Onlyy y-you'vee... been a-ablee to... heelp usss...” reasoned Haru.

For once, Kisumi was speechless. He didn't know what to say and honestly, he didn't think he was nearly as helpful in these kinds of situations as people like Gou, Makoto or Sousuke were. But both Haru and now Chiyo believed that Kisumi had helped them when no one else could.

Maybe it was time for Kisumi to start believing that he had value.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisumi, Haru and Chiyo have reached the home stretch of their journey, but before they get back to the cottage, Kisumi has one more personal goal he'd like to achieve.

They didn't stay on that mountain after burying the bodies. Perhaps Kisumi was being overly sentimental in a world that had no place for such emotions, but he just felt better to be moving on and neither of the other two disagreed with him on the matter. Even if they had been in a situation where the raiders could've equally killed them, people had still died and Kisumi didn't feel good about that.

He couldn't imagine how Chiyo felt about it, since he was the one who'd taken them out. After his outburst of saying Haru's name, Chiyo didn't talk much for a while after that. Haru would tell Chiyo that losing himself to those urges when it came to protecting loved ones was sadly something that just happened, but even Haru agreed that this didn't make it any easier. At least Haru was there for Chiyo though. Kisumi couldn't imagine how hard it must be to go through being a reformed zombie without anyone there to understand. In Haru's case, he'd stayed at the cottage with Sousuke and Makoto in the beginning, so he probably didn't run into too much trouble.

On that note, they'd been lucky to not run into much trouble once they left that mountain either, but it was the lack of it that made the journey all the more disturbing. There was a noticeable absence of zombies now. While Kisumi and Haru had stuck to the countryside and kept away from populated areas while they'd been travelling to find Chiyo anyway, on the route back there weren't even zombies in places where they'd expect to see them.

The reason for that was all too apparent. The cure had proven to be cheap and cheerful enough that the compound could roll out so many of the machines quickly. On one hand, Hayato had potentially saved the world. Even if the contaminated water continued to be a problem, zombies could now be dealt with in a way that stopped them from being a threat. But on the other hand, the world wasn't so black and white. As Kisumi had come to see during their journey, many people had built up their lives in the world after the outbreak. Young adults like Hayato and Daichi could barely remember the world before the outbreak and there were probably now kids who'd only ever lived in this infected world. Even if the zombies were cleared out, that shouldn't mean that the compound had a right to take away what these people had come to make for themselves either. And yet those who lived in the compound spent everyday hoping that they could return to their homes in Japan. Homes that might've been taken over by raiders in the years since they left.

It was all very complicated... And that wasn't even taking into account how the cure affected Haru and Chiyo. They couldn't rely on Chiyo being able to carry Haru away from the cure forever. What if one day the cure was everywhere? Where would they go then...?

For far from the first time, Kisumi wished that he had the answers to those questions. He hated to feel helpless, but when it came to those matters, Kisumi had to accept that he wasn't the person who'd be able to solve those problems. All he could hope was that Hayato would be able to do so. It felt like a long time since Kisumi had seen his brother, even if it had only been a few months.

For now, what Kisumi could do was travel. His and Haru's goal had remained the same – to get Chiyo safely back to the cottage. Now even Chiyo himself could say that he felt ready to go there. He'd reached a stage where the rest of his recovery could happen around other people and the cottage would probably be the safest place for it anyway.

With that in mind, the three of them travelled at a quicker pace than they had been. But as Haru had taught Kisumi, sometimes you needed to be patient and wait. On one such morning, Kisumi found himself sitting by a river at the crack of dawn, as had become routine. Usually he could catch his food for the day while the two zombies did the same and then they'd get on the move again. But today, Kisumi might stay there for a while longer. He had his intentions.

Haru was still off checking around the area, but Chiyo lay on his back near to Kisumi, staring up at the sky. In his normal manner, Kisumi chattered away.

“I can't wait until we get you back home to the others, they're going to be so impressed with how far you've come,” Kisumi said, watching the fishing line in front of him, “It feels like we've gotten very lucky, but we've worked hard for it, haven't we?”

“...Y-y-yeah...” Chiyo croaked. It felt so good to hear him reply again, even if it was only the odd word.

“I mean... if we'd never come looking for you, then you could still be wandering around out there,” said Kisumi, “But there's more than that. If Hayato had never gone into researching reformed zombies in the first place, then him, me and Noriko would never have been reunited with Makoto, Sousuke and Haru. If Sousuke hadn't worked on a plan to get us out of the compound, then we could all be, well, dead. If we hadn't met you, then you'd never have brought us back to Gou and I'm almost certain that without Gou, we'd be dead. And then Makoto worked so hard to protect Hayato when you all went to Tokyo. Heck, you all worked so hard to protect him. There's that Daichi guy, too. I don't know him very well, but he's saved our lives twice already. So we are lucky, but I think that there's a lot more too it than just luck.”

Kisumi paused to give Chiyo a chance to reply, but as he did, the line started to bob up and down. At this point, Kisumi wasn't fazed by fishing. It didn't take more than a few minutes for him to pull the fish in and set it into the bucket next to him.

Once that was done, Chiyo got up from the grass to move, but Kisumi shook his head.

“I want to stay... Just to catch one more,” he said.

Chiyo paused for a moment, by then nodded and lay back down. He might not understand why Kisumi wanted to stay, but he trusted him enough to let him do it. Besides, lying out in the sun was hardly something Chiyo was going to complain about.

So Kisumi cast his line again and waited. It took a long while after the first fish before another one came along. Enough time so that Kisumi wondered if Haru might come back and thus spoil the surprise, but fortunately he didn't. As soon as the second fish was snagged, Kisumi reeled it in and set it down. He looked across at Chiyo.

“You both always eat food raw, but do you think... you'd mind having it cooked?” he asked, “Haru used to love smoked mackerel before he got infected. But we've never been near the sea long enough since then. This might not be mackerel, but maybe it'll do...?”

“...C-cookeed... is f-f-fiiine...” said Chiyo, even though it was obviously an effort for him to say that much. Kisumi felt a bit bad.

“Then I'll cook them,” Kisumi decided, “You can have one too, Chiyo.”

But Chiyo shook his head and got to his feet; “...Th-thisss... is a... y-y-you twoo th-thiiinngg...”

With that, Chiyo headed off to catch something for himself, leaving Kisumi to cook the two fish that he'd caught. The campfire was still set out from last night, so Kisumi lit it again and skewered the fish on a branch, before setting the out to roast over the fire. The smell was strong, but Kisumi was more than used to it by now. He'd never been too bothered about fish either way, but when it was the one thing you could catch, you learned to like it.

In time, the smell seemed to draw Haru out of the woods. Either that or he'd been coming back anyway. As he approached, Kisumi took the fish away from the fire, since they looked ready, and put them on two separate plates. He passed one over to Haru.

“I w-wanted to do this for you...” Kisumi mumbled, “We didn't have time when we were looking for Chiyo. But now we've found him and we're well within Sousuke's time limit for getting back... so I thought that... you might like it?”

Haru picked the fish up off the plate without any regard for how hot it was and then took a bite. He chewed in silence for a few moments and closed his one remaining eye. When he opened it again, Kisumi could swear that he saw it sparkle for a second.

“...Th-thisss... maaakes me f-feel... liikeee h-homeee...” Haru said, “...Thaaank y-youu...”

He moved closer to Kisumi, sitting by his side instead of opposite him. They both knew that “home” now was something very different to what it had been back then, but Kisumi knew what Haru meant. Even if they could never again have what they had before the outbreak, sometimes snatches of that old life could catch you off guard. That wasn't always a bad thing.

“When we get back, I'll be able to fish more often. For all of us,” Kisumi said, blowing on his own food before taking a bite.

“...Y-youuu've comee... s-so faaarrr...” Haru replied.

“Thanks to you,” assured Kisumi. But then after a pause he added, “...And thanks to myself, too. Maybe I'll never adjust to this fully, but I've tried as hard as I can. I feel good about that.”

“...As yoou sh-shoo-oould...” said Haru.

With that decided, the two of them sat and ate together companionably until the fish was gone and Chiyo came back. Then it was time to pack up and move on. In every sense, they didn't have far to go until they were home now.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they reach the final leg of their journey, Kisumi, Haru and Chiyo are greeted by Sousuke and Gou. Then it's back to the cottage to be reunited with almost everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the last chapter in Wild Berries! The next fic in the Trail Mix series will be a one-shot called 'Convenience Store Sandwiches'. More on that in the end notes.

Kisumi had envisioned meeting the others back at the cottage when Haru and him brought Chiyo back home with them, that that wasn't how it actually happened. At least not initially. They didn't get as far as the cottage before they encountered Sousuke and Gou, both heading away from the mountains, with heavy backpacks weighing them down.

It was an odd greeting, to say the least. Sousuke and Gou both stared across at Kisumi, Haru and of course Chiyo, who looked the most different since the last time they'd see him. But Chiyo was at least here and he wasn't attacking them. Instead, Chiyo shifted awkwardly, knowing that something was expected of him.

“...H-hii... G-goouu...” Chiyo rumbled.

Gou's face split into a wide grin. She surged forward as if the backpack she was wearing suddenly weighed nothing and hugged Chiyo tightly.

“They found you! I knew they'd find you!” Gou cried. Then she let go to embrace Kisumi and Haru in the same way; “Here they are, safe and sound. I told you so, Sousuke!”

“Yeah, well...” Sousuke grumbled, “Can't blame a guy for worrying.”

When Sousuke stepped forward, he didn't greet them nearly as enthusiastically as Gou did. He nodded to Haru and then again to Kisumi, before giving Chiyo a cautious glance. As much as Kisumi knew that Sousuke wouldn't think Chiyo was dangerous, they'd all been through so much that Kisumi didn't blame Sousuke for being cautious about him.

“We're back and well within your time limit, Sousuke,” Kisumi said, “We got a bit waylaid, but Chiyo's been making fast progress through his zombie development and I think he'll be safe so stay at the cottage now. But what about you two? Where are you going?”

Sousuke muttered something, but didn't answer. Instead, he glared at the ground. So Gou rolled her eyes and answered for him.

“Like you said, you still had a couple of months before we agreed to come after you,” she said, “But this lug here wouldn't stop worrying the whole time. He finally talked me into coming out to have a scout around the nearby areas for you, but I guess now there's no need.”

“...H-heeh... S-sorryyy to haa-ave... r-ruuuined yoour ressscue... missonnn... S-souusuukkeee...” said Haru, barking out a laugh.

“Shut up, Nanase,” Sousuke replied, “I'm just... glad you're all okay.”

“If it makes you feel any better, when we get back to the cottage, you can pretend you found us in record time,” Kisumi offered.

“You're all against me,” said Sousuke.

With that, he turned and stalked back the way he'd came, with the others following at a much more leisurely pace. Kisumi and Gou chattered together as they went, because they had a lot to catch up to do, while the two zombies followed them in peaceful silence. After a while, Haru went on ahead, probably to tease Sousuke some more. Kisumi's missed the banter between those two. Besides, it wasn't as if Haru had to listen to Kisumi recounting their travels so Gou, since Haru had been there for most of it. Kisumi himself was more interested in what Gou had to say, so once he'd finished his own story, he urged her on.

“So that's how Haru and Chiyo saved me from the raiders. But the thing is, I think they were heading this way when they drove off. Do you know anything about that? You're usually the best person to ask,” Kisumi said.

“I'd be lying if I said I knew for sure,” replied Gou, “I've been here with the others the whole time, especially since... well, we've been keeping a closer eye on Mrs. Yamazaki. But we have seen a lot more traffic passing through the mountain roads lately. That's part of what worried Sousuke so much that he wanted to set out to find you sooner than he'd agreed to.”

“It's something...” Kisumi said, “I just wish I knew what. The raiders who took me said they were going to a coastal town and if you've seen a lot of traffic coming this way, then you don't think they mean...?”

“There's a lot more coastal towns in Japan than just Iwatobi,” assured Gou, “But once everything's settled down, I might check it out myself. Never hurts to know for sure.”

“I hope it's nothing. We don't need any more drama so close to home. But they seem to be putting that cure out all across Japan. It's been almost everywhere we've gone. I'm just glad that it doesn't seem to be here, since Haru and Chiyo have both been fine since we've reached the mountain,” said Kisumi.

“If it helps, I've hardly seen any compound vehicles passing through the mountains, just the raiders,” Gou said, “Though I'm sure it won't take them long to get here. We'll just have to be ready.”

“We will be, now that we're all together. Hayato might not be here, but I have faith in him,” said Kisumi, “All of that aside, how have the rest of you been doing while we've been away? Other than Sousuke worrying, I mean.”

“Hah! As you'd expect, there's been a lot of Makoto trying to stop Sousuke from worrying. With mixed results, I'd say. But Makoto does seem to be able to get through to him like no one else can,” Gou replied, “With everything else, we've mostly just been getting on as best we can. Don't tell Sousuke that I told you, but Mrs. Yamazaki's health has been getting worse lately... So we've mostly been looking after her. She's tough though, so of course she's sticking it out.”

“Noriko's always been tough, ever since we were kids,” agreed Kisumi, “But I'm glad we all got back before, well... anything happens.”

“And you got back with Chiyo, too,” Gou cheered, “I knew you two could do it. Though I've gotta say, you've seen better days, Chiyo.”

“...C-coouldd... be... w-woorsseee...” Chiyo dismissed.

Up ahead, the cottage was coming into view. Smoke was rising up out of the chimney, promising a warm fire once they got inside. After sleeping rough for a few months, Kisumi was ready for a proper bed. But more than that, he was ready to greet the others again. Sousuke and Haru were already at the clearing, talking to Makoto, while Noriko looked on from where she was sitting on her chair out the front of the cottage. Kisumi couldn't wait now, he ran the rest of the way there.

“Makoto! Noriko! We're back!” he called, hugging Makoto tightly as soon as he reached him.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Makoto laughed, “Haru was just telling me all about how Sousuke rescued him from the jaws of death, though I know he's making that up.”

“...S-soousukeee spooileed... th-the... ssstory...” Haru clarified.

“That's because Sousuke is modest, Haru,” said Makoto, not seeing Sousuke spitting his tongue out at Haru from behind him, “But Kisumi, why don't you go see mother now? She's missed... y-you...”

Makoto hesitated in his sentence once Chiyo came into view, following Gou into the clearing. While Sousuke hadn't been fazed by the giant zombie, Makoto looked like he'd just seen a ghost. Part of Kisumi wasn't too surprised, because even though he hadn't witnessed it himself, Haru had told him that Makoto had been awkward about Chiyo when they'd gone to Tokyo. It was possible that Makoto had been carrying around a lot of guilt since then, so it can't be easy for him to see Chiyo in the flesh like this. Especially not as a reformed zombie. For a few seconds, Makoto and Chiyo just stared at each other, until Chiyo broke the silence.

“...H-hey... M-mack...” Chiyo grumbled.

“Mack?” Kisumi echoed.

“It's nothing. He can call me that if he wants,” Makoto said, keen to dismiss it and press on, “But for now, let's go see mother and then we can all head inside. We've got a lot of catching up to do and I bet you guys are hungry.”

With that, Makoto went on ahead and Kisumi followed, stopping outside the cottage to greet Noriko. She looked as tired as ever, but a genuine smile was present upon her stern features. When Kisumi reached across to hug her, Noriko wrapped her arms around him with a grip that was stronger than her current condition would suggest.

“You came home... all of my sons are coming home,” Noriko whispered.

“Of course we are! We all love you, Noriko,” promised Kisumi, “Well, um... Chiyo doesn't know you very well, but I'm sure he will do in time as well.”

“Time... I wonder how much of that we have,” said Noriko. It was easy to see where the cynic in Sousuke came from; “All the same, I'm glad you're back. It might be good to have another zombie around the house.”

“Bet not many people say that,” Kisumi chuckled, “But here, let me help you inside.”

Kisumi pulled Noriko up out of the chair and put his arm around her as he led her through into the cottage, where another chair was waiting. It seemed that Makoto had put a stew on, but Haru took over from him in preparing it, while Makoto muttered something along the lines of 'he's only been back two minutes' under his breath.

It was good to see everyone together again. Or almost everyone, anyway. They still had a long way to go until they were out of the woods where the cure was concerned and Kisumi had no idea when he'd see his brother again, but for now, he'd allow himself the victory that he'd earned. Once the stew was ready, everyone took to their places around the cottage, as if they'd been there for years. It was a tight squeeze for all of them, but Sousuke and Gou were already talking about expanding the cottage in the next few months to accommodate for there being more of them now.

After Kisumi had sat with Noriko for a while, she started to doze, so Kisumi moved over to where Haru was sat on the floor and joined him. Haru was watching Sousuke and Makoto, who were sitting together, while Sousuke talked animately to Gou about the best way they could go about the extension. Every now and then Makoto would chip in, mostly to stop an argument from breaking out between the other two.

“...I've m-missssed... th-thiiisss...” Haru quietly said to Kisumi.

“Me too, but we don't have to miss them any more,” Kisumi replied.

He put an arm around Haru, letting the weight of their journey's burdens slip away. They were home, they had made it. Haru rested his head on Kisumi's shoulder and Kisumi noticed that Haru's gaze shifted to Chiyo, who was sitting alone in a corner. When Haru caught Chiyo's eye, Kisumi saw Haru give a small nod and Chiyo came over, settling on Kisumi's other side. Both Haru and Chiyo were safely here with Kisumi now. The three of them had made it through everything together and this time, they got to have a happy ending. Maybe not forever, but at least for now.

Kisumi, Haru and Chiyo stayed snuggled up together like that for the rest of the evening, allowing themselves to be at rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end of another Trail Mix story! Thank you for sticking with me throughout this long journey so far. It's been nice to have a detour to explore Kisumi and Haru a bit more, as well as further establish Chiyo, since he's going to be part of the group from now on.
> 
> For those of you who've missed the SouMako during these last few months, you don't have to worry – the next fic in this series will be from Sousuke's POV once more. It's going to be a one-shot called 'Convenience Store Sandwiches', focusing at first on Sousuke's relationship with his mother and then on Sousuke, Makoto and Gou taking a trip back to Sousuke's old home in Sano.
> 
> Like all the one-shots in this series, the next fic will be slightly longer than the average chapter of each of the chaptered fics, so it might be a while before I get it finished, but hopefully not too long. I very much love working on this series and have plenty of ideas for upcoming stories within it. Thanks again for your continued support and hopefully I'll see you in the next fic!


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